Siding with state elections officials Monday, a circuit judge allowed them to proceed with Maryland’s forthcoming primary with ballots that do not include the name of Valerie Ervin, the last-minute Democratic candidate for governor. Ervin’s name will appear instead on ballots as the running mate of the late Kevin Kamenetz, the former Baltimore County executive who had been one of the leading contenders in the June 26 Democratic primary before dying of a heart attack in early May. Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge William C. Mulford said making a change to millions of ballots with just over a week until early voting begins threatened to cause more confusion than allowing for the rare appearance on the ballot of a deceased candidate and his running mate. “I just can’t imagine turning this election upside down,” Mulford said as he ruled on Monday.
Ervin, a former Montgomery County councilwoman, said after the ruling that she had not decided whether to appeal. Last week she filed her lawsuit to force state officials to reprint primary election ballots with her name on them.
“The voters lost today,” Ervin said. “We really do believe that voters are going to be confused and we need to do all that we can to support their right to vote and to be clear about who it is that they’re voting for.”
After Kamenetz died on May 10, Ervin took the option the next week of running in his place and named Marisol Johnson, a former Baltimore County school board member, as her running mate.
Full Article: Judge won’t order Md. to put Ervin on ballot.