House and Senate GOP oppose early voting amendment

House and Senate Republicans are opposing November's constitutional amendment that would authorize early voting in Maryland, claiming it's ripe for fraud, an unfunded mandate and unnecessary since the state already has an absentee ballot program.

But House and Senate Democrats are calling the argument ridiculous.

Voters will decide on November's ballot if the state constitution should be amended to authorize the General Assembly to allow qualified citizens to vote at polling places outside of their districts or up to two weeks before an election.

Unlike November's slots referendum, Question 1 has mainly become a partisan issue, with Democrats supporting the measure and Republicans opposing it.

"Early voting will push another unfunded mandate on local governments," Senate Minority Whip Nancy Jacobs (R- Edgewood/Abingdon) said in a statement.

But Senate Majority Whip Lisa Gladden (D-Baltimore) shot back, arguing the cost of early voting wasn't excruciatingly expensive.

"This is the cost of Democracy," Gladden told PolitickerMD.com.

House Minority Leader Tony O'Donnell (R-Calvert County) said early voting "threatens the legitimacy of our elections" without the appropriate safeguards.

"We already have provisions for absentee balloting," argued House Minority Whip Chris B. Shank (R-Hagerstown).

Del. Sandy Rosenberg (D-Baltimore) says Republicans can cry fraud all they want, but argued the provision makes it easier for people to vote.

"This is just part of a pattern," Rosenberg told PolitickerMD.com. "They don't want to make it easier for people to vote."

House Speaker Michael Busch (D-Anne Arundel County) has been a proponent of the referendum as well. Alex Hughes, a spokeswoman for Busch, says the ballot question is not talking about the logistics. It would simply make the idea of early voting legal.

"We think the voters are smart enough to make that decision for themselves," Hughes told PolitickerMD.com.