Maryland: State orders Baltimore’s election results decertified, begins precinct-level review of irregularities | Baltimore Sun

State election officials ordered the results of Baltimore’s primary election decertified Thursday and launched a precinct-level review of irregularities. State election administrator Linda H. Lamone said she became concerned when city officials — who on Monday certified their primary election results — later reported they had found 80 provisional ballots that had never been analyzed. Lamone said the state also is concerned about an unusually high discrepancy between the number of voters who checked in at polling places and the number of ballots cast. The number of ballots cast was higher than the number of check-ins, she said. “Baltimore City was not able to investigate and resolve these issues to our satisfaction,” Lamone said. “We are doing a precinct-level review. We are doing this in fairness to the candidates and the voters.”

Maryland: State elections officials decertify Baltimore election results, investigate irregularities | The Washington Post

Maryland state elections officials have ordered that the results of Baltimore’s recent primary election be decertified after watchdogs and candidates complained that the process was flawed. State Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone said the number of ballots cast in the April 26 contest was hundreds more than the number of voters who checked in at polling places. The state also identified 80 provisional ballots that hadn’t been considered. “It’s important every ballot is counted,” Lamone said. It doesn’t appear likely that the investigation will change the results of Baltimore’s Democratic mayoral primary, where Senate Majority Leader Catherine Pugh finished more than 2,000 votes ahead of Sheila Dixon, a former mayor of the city. Statewide election results in the U.S. Senate and presidential primary cannot be certified until the problems in Baltimore are resolved.

Maryland: New voting machines debut with few reported glitches | The Washington Post

Despite fears of a botched debut of Maryland’s new voting machines, state election officials say they received few reports of glitches and voter confusion in Tuesday’s primary. The election marked Maryland’s long-awaited switch to paper ballots tallied by scanner, nearly a decade after lawmakers decided to ditch electronic machines that leave no paper trail. Late last year, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and his administration raised concerns about election officials’ rushing the new machines into service. They relented when the machine vendor, Election Systems and Software, offered to devote additional staff and resources on a successful rollout.

Maryland: State goes back to paper ballots for primary election | Associated Press

Maryland is going back to basics — an ink pen and paper ballot — for this month’s presidential primary. Like every new voting system, this one has some quirks that likely will become more apparent when the November general election brings more than 2 million Maryland voters to the polls. The system requires most voters to mark their ballots by filling in ovals, similar to those on standardized tests, with pens provided by election judges. Voters feed their marked ballots into scanning machines that tabulate the results. The new system largely replaces touch-screen terminals, which eliminated the “hanging chads” and other difficulties in discerning voter intent on paper punch-card ballots highlighted by the 2000 presidential election. Maryland implemented electronic voting in 2002 but glitches and security concerns prompted the General Assembly to vote in 2007 for a return to paper balloting.

Maryland: Raskin: Hogan ‘very receptive’ to possible redistricting compromise | The Washington Post

A leading Democratic senator said Friday that Gov. Larry Hogan (R) may be open to a compromise proposal for redrawing the boundaries of congressional districts, after his own plan has stalled in the legislature for three months. Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery) said he met with Hogan, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and the governor’s chief of staff for nearly 25 minutes on Friday in a spirited discussion about Raskin’s proposal to create a “Potomac compact” that would allow an independent panel to draw congressional lines for Maryland and Virginia. Raskin’s rationale is that a two-state approach would offset Democratic losses in Maryland as a result of boundaries being redrawn with similar GOP losses in Virginia. “I found them very receptive to the idea,” Raskin said after his meeting Friday.

Maryland: Automatic voter registration bill killed in Senate | Baltimore Sun

The Maryland Senate on Thursday killed a bill that would have automatically registered people to vote when getting their driver’s license. Some senators, mainly Republicans, had raised concerns that non-citizens wouldn’t be weeded out of the voter rolls, because they can receive driver’s licenses. Concerns also were raised that domestic violence victims or people who want to keep their identity as private as possible would be automatically on voting databases. In a rare maneuver, opponents asked for a roll call vote on adopting the report on the bill from the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. Usually committee reports are adopted without a recorded vote. The vote was 21-24, killing the bill.

Maryland: Republican Larry Hogan really wants redistricting reform. He wrote to Obama about it. | The Washington Post

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is pulling out all the stops — including asking for President Obama’s help — in pressing Maryland’s Democratic-controlled legislature to vote on his plan for redistricting reform before lawmakers adjourn for the year on Monday. It is almost certainly not going to happen. Hogan has proposed putting a referendum on the November ballot that would ask voters whether they want a nonpartisan commission to redraw the state’s voting boundaries, which are widely considered to be among the nation’s most gerrymandered, or manipulated to give one party an advantage. In a state with an extremely popular Republican governor and a 2-to-1 ratio of registered Democrats to registered Republicans, all but one of the state’s eight congressional seats is held by a Democrat. The state constitution gives the legislature and governor authority to create congressional and legislative districts every 10 years.

Maryland: Ex-felons become voters as Maryland primary approaches | Baltimore Sun

On a West Baltimore street corner last week, John Comer launched the same conversation he’s begun hundreds of times in the past 22 days. “You registered to vote, bro?” he shouted. “Nah, nah,” Jeffrey Burns responded. “I got a felony.” “Everybody can vote now,” Comer told him. “We passed that law, just for that.” Burns, 54, stopped, shook his head in disbelief, then picked up a clipboard and registered to vote for what he said was the first time in his life. Activists from Communities United have been signing up hundreds of voters like Burns in West Baltimore neighborhoods and housing projects since March 10, the day a new state law went into effect that allows people with felony convictions to register to vote as soon as they are released from prison. Before that, they had to finish probation or parole.

Maryland: Senate candidates spar over super PACs in latest debate | The Washington Post

Reps. Donna F. Edwards and Chris Van Hollen clashed Tuesday over the role of super PACs in their hard-fought Democratic primary race for a rare open Senate seat in Maryland. At a debate televised by WJLA (Channel 7), Van Hollen attacked Edwards for refusing last summer to sign a pledge barring super PAC involvement in the contest and again urged her to sign it — even though outside groups made possible by the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision have spent heavily on behalf of both candidates. “Why don’t you join me in putting your name to what you stand for?” asked Van Hollen, who like Edwards opposes the Citizens United decision. Edwards countered that she is “proud” to have the support of a super PAC run by Emily’s List, a group committed to electing female Democrats who support abortion rights and which has committed $2.4 million to the race so far.

Maryland: State lawyer questions aspects of Hogan’s redistricting plan | The Washington Post

A lawyer for Maryland’s General Assembly has cast doubt on the legality of Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposal to take politics out of the redistricting process by shifting control from the governor and legislature to a nonpartisan commission. The idea of using an independent board to draw voting districts is broadly popular among Marylanders, regardless of demographics and political leanings, according to a recent Goucher College poll. But Assistant Attorney General Kathryn M. Rowe, responding to a request for advice from Sen. Joan Carter Conway (D-Baltimore), said in a letter this month that she has identified 10 legal problems with the proposal by Hogan (R), which would amend the state Constitution to require that a nonpartisan commission handle the redistricting process. The goal of the legislation is to end the practice of gerrymandering, or manipulating legislative and congressional boundaries in ways that give one party an advantage.

Maryland: Hogan still plans to push for redistricting | The Washington Post

With less than three weeks left in the 90-day legislative session, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said Thursday that he remains frustrated that the General Assembly has not moved on his proposal to provide tax relief to retirees and to create a nonpartisan redistricting panel to draw Maryland’s legislative and congressional districts. “It hasn’t even been discussed in this entire session; [the bill is] in somebody’s drawer somewhere and we want to put some pressure on them in these last 16 days to see an up-or-down vote,” Hogan said of redistricting during a wide-ranging interview in his office. “They can’t just ignore everybody in Maryland who wants to see this issue debated, discussed and voted on.” But there is little chance it will happen. Democratic legislative leaders have balked at the idea of making redistricting changes, arguing that the state needs to wait for national redistricting reform.

Maryland: Congressional candidate David Trone: Machines for disabled voters are ‘unfit’ | The Washington Post

Attorneys for congressional candidate David Trone are demanding that Maryland election officials overhaul the use of touch-screen machines that are to be used by disabled voters in the April primary — but are not programmed to display all candidates on a single screen. The State Board of Elections voted last month to abandon these machines for general use in early voting because it is difficult to navigate long lists of candidates and could disadvantage those with last names at the end of the alphabet — including Trone, U.S. Senate candidate Chris Van Hollen (D) and GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump. Election officials are keeping the touch-screen machines available for voters with disabilities, including blind people, who can’t easily use the alternative paper ballots that are being rolled out during early voting and the April 26 election. Trone’s campaign objected to elections officials continuing to sanction machines for disabled voters that it deemed “unfit” for general use.

Maryland: Hogan’s redistricting bill debated in Senate committee | Capital News Service

Days into the 2016 legislative session, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan named redistricting reform as one of his top priorities, saying that Maryland is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. Thursday, his bill to accomplish that goal was scrutinized by the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee. The bill, sponsored by House and Senate leadership at the request of the governor, requires an amendment to the Maryland Constitution and the creation of a commission to draw up new General Assembly and Congressional districts. General Assembly districts would be equally divided among population, with no more than a 2 percent change in population in any district, under the bill.

Maryland: Democrats barraged with hate mail, calls after expanding felon voting rights | The Washington Post

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s pointed attacks on Democrats who overturned his veto of expanded voting rights for felons appear to have tapped into a current of anger among some state residents, who are sending hate mail and making threatening phone calls to lawmakers who voted for the override. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) read excerpts of letters his office has received since the Senate voted last week on the felon voting rights bill, which will allow felons to vote while they are on probation or parole. “You need to check yourself, you moron,” one letter said. “You are only selfish fools.” At least one senator who voted for the override said his office received a call from a man who said he hoped that the senator’s wife and daughter would be raped and murdered.

Maryland: Released felons gain right to vote in Maryland following veto override | Baltimore Sun

More than 40,000 recently released Maryland felons will regain the right to vote in time for this year’s election. The legislature on Tuesday narrowly overturned Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill to extend voting rights to felons before they complete probation and parole. The reversal both dealt a political blow to the Republican governor, who lobbied to prevent the bill from becoming law, and set the stage for an estimated 20,000 former inmates to cast ballots in Baltimore’s primary election for mayor and City Council this spring. The issue drew passionate debate from both sides on the proper message to send former inmates rejoining society. The bill was the sixth that Hogan vetoed from last year’s General Assembly, and the sixth the Democratic-controlled legislature reinstated this year. The House of Delegates voted to override Hogan’s veto last month, and on Tuesday, the Senate voted 29-18 to overrule the governor.

Maryland: State announces early voting changes | The Star Democrat

The Maryland State Board of Elections announced Thursday, Feb. 4, a change to how the new voting system equipment will be used during early voting for the 2016 presidential primary election. For this election, most early voters will manually make their selections on paper ballots and feed the marked ballots into a digital scanner. Voters with disabilities may use an accessible ballot marking device at each early voting center to make selections independently. With this change, the voting process during early voting will be identical to the Election Day process. … As initially designed, all voters during early voting would have used an accessible ballot-marking device to make selections. The voter would then feed into a digital scanner the ballot printed from the ballot marking device.

Maryland: Voting Rights Restored for 40,000 Felons | The Atlantic

The Maryland General Assembly restored Tuesday the right to vote for more than 40,000 released felons, overriding a veto by Governor Larry Hogan. Maryland’s Senate approved the bill on a narrow 29-18 vote, while the state House of Delegates voted 85-56 in favor of it on January 20. Under the state’s previous laws, felons regained the right to vote after completing their entire sentence, including probation or parole. The new law restores voting rights to felons who are no longer imprisoned, but are still under probation or parole. About 44,000 Marylanders will regain their vote under the new law, according to the Washington Post. The law goes into effect in 30 days, just over one month before the state’s primary elections on April 26.

Maryland: Some in GOP ask whether Zucker should vote on Senate override | The Washington Post

On the eve of what is expected to be a close vote in the Maryland Senate to expand felon voting rights, some Republicans are raising questions about whether a newly appointed Democratic senator should participate. Joe Cluster, executive director of the state GOP, said Sen. Craig Zucker (D-Montgomery) should recuse himself when the Senate votes on whether to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a 2015 bill that would allow felons to vote while on parole or probation. Zucker voted in favor of the override as a member of the House of Delegates last month, before he was sworn in to fill a Senate seat vacated by former senator Karen Montgomery (D-Montgomery). Democratic leaders have said they will need his support to amass the 29 votes needed for the override to pass the Senate.

Maryland: State ditches touch screen machines for early voting | Baltimore Sun

Early voters in April’s primary will cast their ballots on paper that will be scanned by a machine — just as election day voters will — after Maryland elections officials on Thursday nixed the use of touch screen machines for early voting. The change was made after elections officials said they realized that many primary contests will feature long lists of candidates that can’t fit on one screen, and some candidates threatened legal action for being stuck on a second or third screen. “The fairest, most viable and reasonable solution is paper ballots,” said Patrick J. Hogan, a former state senator who is vice chairman of the Maryland State Board of Elections. Board members voted 5-0 in favor of the switch to paper ballots for early voting.

Maryland: State may scrap touch-screen machines for early voting, too | The Washington Post

Maryland’s top election official wants to ditch touch-screen machines in favor of paper ballots for early voting before the April primaries because the electronic machines can’t display all candidates on the same screen. Candidates with last names further down the alphabet — including GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump, Democratic Senate candidate Chris Van Hollen, Republican Senate contender Kathy Szeliga and Democratic House candidate David Trone — may be at a disadvantage because of the format, Elections Administrator Linda Lamone said. In addition, it can be difficult to use the touch screens to navigate between multiple pages of candidates. “It would cause confusion to voters, and it would take them a lot more time to vote,” Lamone said in an interview. The State Board of Elections has called an emergency meeting for Thursday to address the problem.

Maryland: Senate scheduled to vote to overturn veto of felon voting bill | The Washington Post

The Maryland Senate is scoheduled to vote Friday on overturning Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill that granted voting rights to felons who are on parole and probation. The vote will be the sixth veto override by the Democratic-controlled legislature, and will send a strong message to Hogan (R) about the power that Democrats, who are still grappling with Hogan’s victory and popularity, continue to wield in the State House. “It’s a huge victory for voting rights, not just in Maryland but in the country,” Jane Henderson, executive director of Communities United, said Thursday, anticipating the override and the bill becoming law. The Senate passed the measure last year with a 29 to 18 vote, a veto-proof majority. The governor vetoed the bill, arguing that former inmates who are released from prison on parole and probation have not finished their sentences and should not be have their right to vote restored until they do.

Maryland: Hogan proposing independent redistricting | The Washington Post

Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Tuesday proposed creating a nonpartisan redistricting panel to draw Maryland’s legislative and congressional districts, a change that would strip that power from the legislature and the governor’s office. … The redistricting proposal — which will be formally introduced in the legislature Wednesday — would require an amendment to the state constitution. The change would have to be approved both by the Democratic-majority legislature and by voters. Democratic legislative leaders have vowed to resist such redistricting changes, saying they prefer to wait for national redistricting reform that would also affect states where Republicans control the legislatures.

Maryland: House votes to overturn Larry Hogan’s veto of felon voting rights | Baltimore Sun

Maryland’s Democrat-led legislature began the process Wednesday of overriding Gov. Larry Hogan’s vetoes, with one chamber upholding legislation that would allow felons to regain the right to vote sooner. After a passionate, 45-minute debate, members of the House of Delegates voted, 85-56, to uphold the bill they passed last year that allows people convicted of felonies to vote as soon as they leave prison. The House reached the minimum number of votes needed to override Hogan’s veto after the bill received 82 votes last year. The House also overrode the Republican governor’s vetoes of a Howard County bill that changes the way hotel taxes are collected and $2 million in the state budget that was earmarked for the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, a community arts center in House Speaker Michael E. Busch’s district. The Senate is expected to vote on veto overrides on Thursday.

Maryland: Senate postpones vote on Larry Hogan’s veto of felon voting rights bill | Baltimore Sun

The Maryland Senate on Thursday postponed its attempt to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of legislation that would give felons the right to vote as soon as they leave prison. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat, said Thursday the vote was moved to Feb. 5 to allow the chamber time to fill an open seat. Lawmakers did override five other vetoes Thursday. Two bills will change the way hotel taxes are collected, $2 million will go toward the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, a community arts center in House Speaker Michael E. Busch’s district, possession of a marijuana pipe will become a civil offense, not a crime and the power of police and prosecutors to seize property will be limited.

Maryland: Veto-override battle begins Wednesday in Annapolis | The Washington Post

Maryland’s majority-Democrat House of Delegates will vote Wednesday on whether to overturn at least two of Gov. Larry Hogan’s vetoes, marking the first direct showdown between lawmakers and the Republican governor of the 2016 legislative session. The state Senate has delayed its override votes until Thursday, because two senators will be absent on Wednesday. Each chamber needs a three-fifths majority to override a veto. The House will decide whether to reinstate a bill that would require online hotel booking companies to collect sales tax for the entire cost of a hotel room in Howard County and give that full amount to the state, rather than keeping part of it as a service fee. It will also try to resurrect a measure that would provide $2 million for capital improvements to a performing arts hall in Annapolis.

Maryland: Voting rights for felons spurs impassioned debate | Baltimore Sun

Robinette Barmer woke up in Baltimore last week with paralyzing arthritis, but she crawled out of bed anyway and kept moving until she was on the steps of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, shouting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” at Maryland’s governor. Barmer, 60, and the crowd around her hoped to persuade the legislature to override what’s become the most contentious veto issued by Gov. Larry Hogan, one that canceled a law granting voting rights to felons more quickly. Currently, they have to first finish their probation or parole. Of the six bills Hogan, a Republican, vetoed last year, none faces tougher odds for an override than two that would give 40,000 felons the right to vote before their sentences are complete.

Maryland: Over 40,000 Ex-Offenders In Maryland Could Regain Their Voting Rights | Huffington Post

Over 40,000 people with past felony convictions who are on probation or parole will have their voting rights restored if a veto override attempt is successful in Maryland legislature next week. In Maryland, someone with a past felony conviction is barred from voting until he or she finishes their probation or parole. Legislation sent to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s desk last spring would have changed that, by allowing people to vote once they’ve left prison. Hogan, who is immensely popular in the state, vetoed the legislation, setting up a fight with Democrats, who control both legislative chambers. On Wednesday, the Democrats’ leadership signaled that they would vote to override Hogan’s veto next Tuesday or Wednesday. If the veto override succeeds, Maryland will join the 13 states, plus the District of Columbia, that allow all people with felony convictions who have left prison to vote in elections.

Maryland: Baltimore City Council urges override of Hogan’s veto of sooner voting rights for ex-offenders | Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore City Council on Monday urged the Maryland General Assembly to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill that would have given voting rights to ex-offenders while on probation or supervised release. “There is a movement to override this veto,” said City Councilman Brandon Scott, who sponsored a resolution calling for an override that was adopted by the council. “These people are taxpayers. With everything that happened in our city, we should realize that we should invite people back into society.”

Maryland: Non-U.S. citizens likely to vote in Hyattsville city elections soon | Hyattsville Life & Times

At the Jan. 4 Hyattsville City Council meeting, councilmembers discussed a motion that would direct the city attorney to draw up a charter amendment concerning the qualifications of voters in municipal elections. The council is likely to pass the motion, which was submitted jointly by Council President Edouard Haba (Ward 4), Council Vice President Bart Lawrence, and Councilmembers Patrick Paschall (Ward 3) and Joseph Solomon (Ward 5). The biggest change proposed by this new legislation would allow non-U.S. citizens — even undocumented residents — to vote in municipal elections. According to a city memo, Maryland ended non-citizen voting rights in 1851, but left it up to municipalities to decide local voting rights. Six Maryland cities currently allow non-citizens to vote: Takoma Park, Barnesville, Garrett Park, Glen Echo, Martin’s Additions and Somerset.

Maryland: Democrats push to use Obamacare as voter registration drive | Washington Times

Maryland Democrats hope to break new ground in the push for universal voter registration, planning to wage a fight in the General Assembly this year to automatically sign up everyone who visits certain state social services agency or buys coverage through the state’s Obamacare exchange. State Sen. Victor Ramirez, Prince George’s County Democrat, and state Sen. Roger Manno, Montgomery County Democrat, have already pre-filed automatic registration bills ahead of the legislative session, saying they are trying to cut down on barriers that keep poor people from showing up at the polls on Election Da