Maryland: 10,000 Republican Absentee Ballot ApplicationsTossed Out

The Washington Times ^ | 11/1/2002 | S.A. Miller

[cogitator]

Scores of Maryland voters are in jeopardy of losing their vote in Tuesday's election after Democrat-appointed election officials rejected more than 10,000 Republican absentee-ballot applications and delayed notifying the voters.

Those absentee ballots could decide the tight governor's race between Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.

[cogitator]

Heard this on the radio this morning and checked the Web site for the article.

If the governor's race is as close as it was in 1992 between and Glendening and Sauerbrey (and it sure looks like it's going to be), these votes could be critical.

Could even cause this nightmare scenario: Ehrlich looks like a winner on Tuesday night but loses when the absentee ballots are counted.

[plain talk]

What we learned in 2000 is that democrat election officials are incompetent. Republicans should get on the offense about the 2000 election and keep pointing out democrat incompentency instead of hoping the memory of it just goes away. We need to influence how history will be written.

[error99]

"...Scores of Maryland voters are in jeopardy of losing their vote in Tuesday's election after Democrat-appointed election officials rejected more than 10,000 Republican absentee-ballot applications..."

"10,000" - now that's a lot of "scores"...

[BlackRazor]

Maybe this was the plan for MD.

[for-q-clinton]

This is so ironic. You mean the RATs are going to go against the intent of the voter? If they are willing to take this action, it would suggest everything they did in Flori-duh, NJ, HI, MN, is purely for political reasons and not out of their belief for a fair election.

Shocking!

[LurkedLongEnough]

Jonathan Horn, 20, a Montgomery County resident attending Yale University in New Haven, Conn., learned too late that the application he mailed home from school was no good.

I'm surprised that the writer doesn't instead quote some lonely white guy with a gun who lost his chance to vote.

[clamper1797]

There should be a lesson here. DO NOT vote absentee unless you absolutely have to. Granted there are those in the military that have to vote absentee BUT that little trip to the coast can wait a few hours with so much at stake. I hear of people voting all the time for very frivilous reasons.

[yonif]

I voted Absentee in Mass.

[Mamzelle]

The dems won't leave anything to chance in MD. There's no point in a Republican even running and investing because the state is so corrupt. Why grow a crop for someone else to steal? Shudder. I fear it's catching...

[Skooz]

Get ready for more of this next week. I have a feeling the Clinton/McAuliff evil cabal has much more of this in-your-face, law defying sleaziness up its sleave.

Tuesday night and Wednesday will be very interesting.

[Fred Mertz]

Bump of outrage.

[PLOM...NOT!]

Actually I think the lesson here is, throw the d*mn corrupt demonicrats in jail. This is getting far past ridiculous!

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

This is the very reason fair elections need to be guaranteed by the national government. This is one of the things on my very short list for which I am willing to pay taxes to have the Federal Government do.

States rights are important, but the fundamental right to vote should not be dependent upon whether right party is in power.

I don't undertand why the President did not push reforms faster and harder. He was almost a victim himself.

[drb9]

I'm actually one of the 10,000 applicants who was rejected. What makes my case even more egregious is that I had actually filled in the missing information (date of birth) before sending it back. I sent a note to the Republican Party to let them know that, in my view, this indicates an intent by the election board to deprive a likely Republican voter of the opportunity to vote. I am discouraged that I live in MD and not VA.

(On the other hand, what kind of bone-headed people are running the MD Republican Party that they can't create a proper absentee ballot request form, which has only five required elements. Jeez.)

[Straight Vermonter]

This is a little off the subject but I keep seeing all of these college kids involved in the absentee ballot situations. These guys live 9 months a year in another state and they can still vote in their home state? I know the out of state students here in Vermont vote in our elections. Are these guys voting twice? Is anyone looking at this?

[Physicist]

I don't understand. Are there different absentee ballots for Republicans and Democrats?

And why are these things being reviewed now? It seems to me that the legal pettifogging should have been ironed out six months ago.

That being said, if the Republicans screwed up and didn't ask voters' birthdates as required by law, they have nobody to blame but themselves. Get the ballots in and let the courts decide. (Not that the courts were much help in upholding the law in New Jersey, but still.)

[apillar]

See..

Laws only apply to Republicans.

The Absentee Ballot Requests could have been in crayon on used toilet paper if it was a Democrat and would have been accepted as to not "disenfranchise" the votor.

[MEGoody]

"What we learned in 2000 is that democrat election officials are incompetent."

No, Democratic election officials are not incompetent at cheating. They've been doing it for years. I will grant you that the officials in FL during the 2000 election were 'newbies' to the whole cheating thing, but they've learned a lot from their counterparts in other states since then.

[clamper1797]

Actually I think the lesson here is, throw the d*mn corrupt demonicrats in jail

Actually .... I'm all for that !!!!

I have delayed trips to vote before when possible and I have voted absentee when I was in the military. I know that sometimes it's impossible to be at the polls in person BUT if at all possible take the extra time and vote in person. Rememebr what the Dims say ... Vote early ... Vote often

[mickie]

Doesn't Maryland lead the Country in the crome rate>

Isn't it time for a change?