A key topic of debate in Annapolis these days is election reform. This hardly rates as a shocker after the heat and light generated by Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey's challenge of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's slim victory at the polls last fall.
Several bills to reform Maryland election laws will come before the House of Delegates Commerce and Government Matters Committee on Feb. 14. One proposal, HB 244, would create a task force "to recommend any necessary changes. . . in the voting and vote counting process." The bi-partisan panel of three delegates, three state senators and seven Glendening appointees would also seek to determine "whether there should be uniform statewide procedures for the conduct of elections."
Given these developments, Baltimore County election administrator Doris Suter ought to reconsider her recommendation that the county lease or purchase a new computerized voting system.
Certainly her suggestion is understandable. The jurisdiction's system of gathering and counting votes is expensive, unwieldy and archaic, relying as it does on more than a thousand half-ton voting booths purchased 30 and 40 years ago. When Baltimore County ballots have been among the last to be counted in statewide elections -- and that's been often -- the clunky process has been as much to blame as the heavy volume of tallies.
Mrs. Suter wants to bring the county up to date with Op-Tech III Eagle machines similar to those used in 10 Maryland counties. Only one of the 42-pound Op-Tech machines would be required at each of Baltimore County's 180 polling places. Fewer election judges would have to be hired and paid on voting days. More savings would come from terminating the lease for the warehouse where the county stores its old machines for $150,000 a year and hundreds of dollars a month in heating bills.
Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and the County Council will mull over the proposal to lease or purchase the Op-Tech system for approximately $2 million. But first they would be smart to note the strong sentiment in Annapolis for election reform. It would make no sense for Baltimore County to commit to a pricey new voting process when the state might order a wholly different, uniform system for each of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions -- with the state likely footing the total bill. Yes, Baltimore County needs new voting technology, but the updating can wait if the state government is about to do the job for every jurisdiction and pay for it as well.