Democrat Parris N. Glendening was clinging to a slim lead over Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey last night and seemed destined to be declared Maryland's next governor if the current trend in the absentee ballot count continues.
Mrs. Sauerbrey appeared to acknowledge as much. "We might not close the gap," she said. "But the issue, regardless of how the absentee ballots turn out -- and I'm not conceding that -- there is a much more significant issue in terms of the election process."
"From our perspective, we're just continuing to work," she said. She vowed to fight on through legal means as a team of 16 investigators working under her running mate, Paul H. Rappaport, began looking into complaints of voter fraud and election irregularities.
The Glendening camp, meanwhile, expressed confidence, though no claim of victory has yet been forthcoming. "We just think the margin will increase and Parris Glendening will be the next governor," said campaign spokesman Eric Andrus.
Mrs. Sauerbrey conferred with campaign aides and lawyers, then did some television interviews. Mr. Glendening took the day off, driving to Ocean City for some post-election relaxation with his -- wife, Frances Anne, and the couple's 14-year-old son, Raymond.
For the second straight day, the tallying of absentee ballots proceeded at a glacial pace in the state's four largest subdivisions: the city of Baltimore and Prince George's, Montgomery and Baltimore counties. Ballots were also being tallied in less-populous Calvert County.
During the day, Mrs. Sauerbrey closed to within 1,569 votes of Mr. Glendening after trailing him by 6,187 out of nearly 1.4 million cast when the regular vote count was completed Tuesday night. But the votes that moved her that close came from rural and suburban counties, all of which she carried on Tuesday. Last night, as votes began trickling in from Baltimore City -- a Glendening stronghold -- Mr. Glendening climbed back up to a lead of 2,338.
So far, the absentee votes have roughly mirrored the Tuesday vote in terms of support. Of the four major subdivisions outstanding last night, only Baltimore County backed Mrs. Sauerbrey. The city, Prince George's and Montgomery strongly embraced Mr. Glendening's candidacy. Unless the absentee results from those three subdivisions buck the trend and differ markedly from Tuesday, there is little likelihood that Mrs. Sauerbrey can win the popular vote.
Election officials in Baltimore City and Prince George's were working into the night in an effort to complete the tally, but officials in Montgomery and Baltimore counties were scheduled to work through the weekend.
Even when all the absentee ballots are added to Tuesday's tally, the process won't be over. Election officials will spend much of next week reviewing the Tuesday returns from all 1,702 polling places across the state. Only when they've finished will they certify official results, which is expected to happen Friday.
Maryland voters and the staffs of the two candidates remained in varying degrees of suspense yesterday as the counting of absentee ballots at times deteriorated into pitched battles at local election boards.
The mood was perhaps best embodied by Glendening spokesman Andrus, who answered his phone early in the day by saying, "Greetings from campaign purgatory."
For the most part, the action was carried on by lawyers and
spokesmen for the two candidates.
Carol Hirschburg, Mrs. Sauerbrey's communications director, said that 16 professional investigators -- former police officers and some current ones working on their own time -- would probe complaints under Mr. Rappaport, a former Howard County police chief.
The overall operation, lawyers and investigators, are under former Republican U.S. Attorney George Beall, who headed the prosecutorial team whose probe of Spiro T. Agnew led to his resignation as vice president of the United States in 1973.
"The mission is to assure the citizens of Maryland that the election was conducted fairly and honestly," Mr. Beall said.
Gene M. Raynor, state election board administrator, said he had seen nothing to support claims the election was conducted unfairly. "Barring evidence of any wrongdoing, I have nothing to state except that this was the smoothest election I have seen as far as the electorate going to the polls and casting their ballots with no problems," he said.
From the Glendening camp, Mr. Andrus said, "We'd like to move on. The entire state is anticipating the results of the absentee ballot count." After the count and the official canvass are complete, he said, complaints can be filed.
Meanwhile, disputes over absentee ballots continued.
In Baltimore County, where 6,567 votes are at stake, representatives of the candidates argued over nearly every one.
By 5 p.m., when work stopped for the day, only a few hundred ballots had been tallied, with challenged votes counted separately.
No results were announced.
Initially the board planned to stop for the weekend, but the pressure to get the job done was so much that the three members voted to continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and tomorrow. Even with the steady work, however, board lawyer Joseph N. Karey said he doesn't see an end to it "before mid-week at the earliest."
Added Mr. Karey, "We're anxious to get it done, but we want to do it right."
In Montgomery County, Republicans went on the electoral equivalent of a fishing expedition, searching for forged signatures on the envelopes that contain each ballot despite no evidence of forgery.
Officials with Mrs. Sauerbrey's camp said they would compare signatures on the envelopes with signatures on the corresponding ballot applications. The task was expected to take until at least sometime today, said county election administrator Carol S. Evans.
As of 6 p.m. yesterday, Ms. Evans said, the county Board of Supervisors of Elections had only thrown out 10 ballots of the approximately 2,000 they had checked. Eight of those were rejected because the envelopes did not have the required signatures, she said. The remaining two had signatures that appeared to be the work of different people, she said.
State Sen. Howard A. Denis, a Sauerbrey representative, conceded there had been no evidence of vote fraud. Asked why, then, Republicans wanted to check every signature, he said: "To make sure, because every vote counts."
Mr. Glendening won the county with 58 percent of the vote to Ms. Sauerbrey's 42 percent.
The signature check is expected to continue through at least tomorrow. Only then will election officials actually begin to tally the ballots.
And even then, it won't be complete. The candidates' lawyers agreed in Montgomery Circuit Court yesterday to set aside about 2,000 absentee ballots from Montgomery because they may not have complied with the letter of election law. The majority were were cast without a required affidavit stating the voter's identity and his or her reason for not voting at the polls.
RUNNING TOTAL
:. Election Day tally plus counted absentees.
... ... ... ... ... ... Votes ... ... ... ... %
Glendening (D) .. .. .. 694,083 ... ... .. .. 50.09
Sauerbrey (R) ... .. .. 691,540 ... ... .. .. 49.91
Margin ... ... .. .. .. 2,543
To be counted ... .. .. 20,443
THE ABSENTEE BALLOT COUNT
Allegany
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 788
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 678
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 318
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 360
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 53.1
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 57.1
Anne Arundel
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 3,900
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 3,805
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 1,482
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 2,323
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 61.9
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 60.3
Baltimore City
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 3,775
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 3,031
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 2,121
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 910
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 30.0
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 25.3
Baltimore County
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 6,567
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 0
Absentee ballots for Glendening --
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey --
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey --
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 56.8
Calvert
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 764
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 453
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 179
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 274
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 60.5
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 60.8
Caroline
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 289
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 267
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 95
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 172
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 64.4
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 67.0
Carroll
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 1,518
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 1,483
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 475
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 1,008
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 68.0
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 72.2
Cecil
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 721
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 693
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 275
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 418
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 60.3
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 64.0
Charles
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 911
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 865
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 342
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 523
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 60.5
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 60.7
Dorchester
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 357
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 315
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 127
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 188
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 59.7
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 60.2
Frederick
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 1,318
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 1,283
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 493
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 790
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 61.6
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 64.6
Garrett
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 449
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 412
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 105
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 307
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 74.5
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 77.3
Harford
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 2,097
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 2,063
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 714
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 1,349
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 65.4
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 64.8
Howard
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 3,300
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 2,872
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 1,268
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 1,604
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 53.1
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 53.5
Kent
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 416
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 401
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 168
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 233
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 58.1
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 57.8
Montgomery
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 8,745
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 0
Absentee ballots for Glendening --
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey --
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey --
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 41.4
Prince George's
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 4,076
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 0
Absentee ballots for Glendening --
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey --
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey --
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 31.4
Queen Anne's
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 502
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 477
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 168
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 309
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 64.8
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 65.1
St. Mary's
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 818
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 773
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 318
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 455
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 58.9
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 58.5
Somerset
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 531
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 474
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 167
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 307
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 64.8
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 63.1
Talbot
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 596
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 565
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 196
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 369
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 65.3
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 65.8
Washington
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 1,356
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 1,298
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 521
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 777
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 59.9
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 64.6
Wicomico
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 732
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 694
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 287
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 407
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 58.6
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 59.6
Worcester
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 805
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 776
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 269
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 507
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 65.3
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 61.8
TOTAL
Number of absentee ballots returned -- 45,331
Number of absentee ballots counted -- 23,820
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 10,088
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 13,782
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey -- 57.6
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey -- 49.8
Election Day count
Number of absentee ballots returned --
Number of absentee ballots counted --
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 683,995
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 677,808
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey --
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey --
Total
Number of absentee ballots returned --
Number of absentee ballots counted --
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 694,083
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey -- 691,540
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey --
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey --
Margin
Number of absentee ballots returned --
Number of absentee ballots counted --
Absentee ballots for Glendening -- 2,543
Absentee ballots for Sauerbrey --
Percent of absentee for Sauerbrey --
Percent of Tuesday vote for Sauerbrey --