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Election legislation leads to partisan debate |
Democratic senators reject GOP amendments said to target
fraud
By Tom Stuckey
The Associated Press
Originally published March 29, 2006, 7:18 PM EST
A partisan battle over the September primary and November
general elections erupted in the Senate today as Democrats beat back a series of
amendments that Republicans said would guard against fraud.
The debate was part of a continuing struggle over the coming elections that
usually, but not always, divides the Senate and House of Delegates along party
lines.
The Senate rejected a proposal that would have required voters to
produce a photo identification before casting ballots this year and a proposal
that would have repealed a new provision of the law allowing Marylanders for the
first time to cast provisional ballots at polling places outside their home
counties. Provisional ballots are counted only after they are checked to see if
the person who is voting has registered.
The Senate also voted down an
attempt by Sen. Sandra Schrader, R-Howard, to require the state to use paper
ballots for the 2006 elections, an issue that has drawn support of lawmakers
from both parties. The House of Delegates unanimously approved an identical bill
to replace the state's electronic touchscreen machines with optical scanners
that record votes marked on paper ballots.
The Senate rejected that
amendment at the request of Sen. Paula Hollinger, D-Baltimore County, who said
her committee is working on legislation that it plans to bring up for debate
dealing with the voting machine issue.
Much of the Senate debate dealt
with the Republican attempt to require voters to display a photo ID before being
allowed to vote.
"We are increasing access to the polls. Let's just make
sure the people who are voting are who they say they are," said Sen. E.J.
Pipkin, R-Queen Anne's.
Sen. Delores Kelley, D-Baltimore County, one of
the black senators opposing Pipkin's proposal, said she was "really frightened"
by the photo ID requirement "given the attempts to suppress minority voting"
that have occurred around the country.
She said she did not think Pipkin
was trying to hold down the turnout of minority voters, who tend to give
overwhelming support to Democrats, but is still fearful that his plan for a
photo ID might be used to deny blacks the right to vote.
Noting that
prospects are good for one or more close elections this year, Pipkin said: "We
have to have the ability to show our voters that the elections were fair."
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