'Troubled' By Election, Edwards Concedes

Congressional hopeful Donna Edwards (D) accepted defeat yesterday, saying 12 days after a deeply troubled primary election that she believes votes in the congressional district straddling Montgomery and Prince George's counties have been counted "to the extent that they will be."

Edwards, who challenged Democratic Rep. Albert R. Wynn in a bid for Maryland's 4th District seat, had previously taken the position that a narrow margin in early returns and concern over the integrity of the balloting left the contest too close to call. But with the final ballots from the Sept. 12 primary counted by late Friday, unofficial results had her falling short by 2,725 votes.

Edwards said that although she remains "really troubled" by "multiple layers of failures" in the election, she is no longer contemplating legal action. She urged lawmakers and the state Board of Elections to conduct a thorough investigation.

In Montgomery, voting in many precincts was disrupted for hours because access cards had not been provided at many polling locations. In Prince George's, some of the data cards on which votes were recorded were not recovered or counted for nine days.

"My gut tells me the problems we experienced aren't going to be cured in litigation," said Edwards, a lawyer and community activist.

"It's really clear the rules were not followed in quite a lot of instances," she added. "I think the people who were responsible owe us an explanation, and those who were at fault should lose their jobs."

Wynn, who had trounced every opponent he had faced since his first election in 1992, appeared chastened by having come within a whisker of defeat. "I certainly appreciate the support of the people who voted for me, and I'm going to work harder to do a better job," he said.

Wynn said that "obviously some mistakes were made" during the election and that he supports better training and pay for poll workers -- steps that he said could restore voter confidence in the process.