A Baltimore Circuit Court judge last night denied a request by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ellen R. Sauerbrey to get immediate access to voting records for seven city precincts that were carried overwhelming by her Democratic opponent, Parris N. Glendening.
In denying a petition by Mrs. Sauerbrey and running mate Paul H. Rappaport, Judge Andre M. Davis said after an emergency hourlong hearing that "I do not feel that the plaintiffs have made the case" that they could not wait to examine the documents.
He said the Sauerbrey campaign would not be hurt by looking at the documents after Friday's deadline for certifying the election results because there were other legal options available to contest the result if they wanted to use them.
Mrs. Sauerbrey's attorney, Robert L. Flanagan, had argued that the campaign would lose its right to look at the documents after the election results had been certified.
The petition was filed after the city board of elections voted 2-1 yesterday to deny Mrs. Sauerbrey's representatives immediate access to the campaign documents. Officials said it could take days to find all the records, and that they did not want to interrupt the certification of the election results.
Mrs. Sauerbrey was seeking the cards signed by voters on election day, the log showing when voters came to the polls, and the original registration forms for all those voters.
The Republican gubernatorial candidate said yesterday that the city precincts under scrutiny -- including one in the neighborhood of Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, one of Mr. Glendening's key backers -- were chosen according to criteria suggested by a campaign consultant.
First, she said, her staff looked for precincts where the turnout was higher than expected. Second, they searched for areas that voted for Mr. Glendening by lopsided margins. Third, they sought precincts where there were almost no votes recorded for ballot questions -- on the theory that anyone voting multiple times wouldn't bother to record votes for ballot questions.
Mrs. Sauerbrey said before yesterday's court hearing that she was "astounded" the Baltimore City board of elections "voted to deny us access to documents to which we are clearly entitled."
But George A. Nilson, an attorney for Mr. Glendening, accused the Sauerbrey campaign of "trolling for fraud" in filing the petition.
"They want to find out if they want to find out something," agreed Deputy Attorney General Ralph S. Tyler, who opposed the petition on behalf of the city election board. "This is a case where the plaintiff seeks documents. These documents are available after the election is over." Mr. Tyler said the Sauerbrey campaign wanted to "slam the brakes on" the election process.
"That's not in the public interest," he said.
Another Glendening attorney, John A. Pica Jr., implied that the Sauerbrey effort was racially biased. "The only precincts they are attempting to investigate are African-American," said Mr. Pica, a state senator who chairs Baltimore's delegation.
Mr. Flanagan said after Judge Davis' decision that he was unsure what the Sauerbrey campaign's next step would be. "It's going to be up to the client," he said.