A spokeswoman for Gov. Robert Ehrlich said it is “unlikely” that he would support extending the deadline for absentee voters to send in their ballots.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP and a coalition of other advocacy groups sent a letter to the governor and the State Board of Election requesting a 24-hour extension for today?s deadline, when absentee ballots must be postmarked.
“The governor has not seen the letter, but it?s unlikely he?ll extend the deadline,” Shareese Deleaver, spokeswoman for Ehrlich, said Sunday.
“He is for a fair and timely election,” she said.
The letter,sent Friday, cited the late mailing of absentee ballots as an “unfolding catastrophe” that would make it difficult for voters to return their ballots on time.
“Because we know that many people who timely requested absentee ballot still have not gotten them, there is no hope they?ll be able to mail them on time,” said David Rocah, staff attorney for the ACLU.
Citing roughly 188,000 absentee ballots requested by voters for the election ? perhaps due to both potential problems with voting machines and liberalized laws that make it easier to vote absentee ? the letter requests a 24-hour extension past the Monday deadline.
The letter also requests that voters be allowed to return ballots to voting precincts, rather than local election board offices. Rocah said the changes are the only way to ensure that all voters get a fair chance to cast their ballot.
“You have potentially thousands people who have done everything they can do to get an absentee ballot who are going to be disenfranchised through no fault of their own,” he said.
Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, president of the Baltimore chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said his organization has been circulating e-mails to its membership to find out how many people have not received their ballots yet.
“We?ve heard from enough people that it?s a concern,” he said. “The worse-case scenario is if these folks haven?t received their ballots and can?t get to the post office by the deadlines,” he said.
The Maryland State Board of Elections Web site says voters who have requested an absentee ballot may go to the polls instead and cast a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot, though, is not counted until the election board reviews the eligibility of the voter after the election.
Rocah said that if the state doesn?t act, the ACLU might seek help from the courts. “We are certainly contemplating legal action if steps aren?t taken.”
Part of the Baltimore Examiner’s 2006 Election Coverage
