Erlich should publicly disavow aggressive GOP poll watchers guide

Common Cause today called on Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr. to demand that the Maryland Republican Party withdraw a controversial guide for poll watchers that encourages them to challenge voters’ right to vote.

In a letter faxed to the Governor on Thursday afternoon, Common Cause called the poll watchers’ guide “ill-intentioned and destructive. The guide would create an army of intrusive election day observers, watching for the least deviation to indicate evidence of potential voter fraud, eager to challenge the eligibility of scores of voters,” the Common Cause letter states.

“Governor Ehrlich has endorsed state legislation for a voter-verified paper trail for electronic voting machines, and has discussed his serious concerns about Maryland’s touch-screen machines,” said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. “We hope that he will once again speak up for voters and democracy by denouncing his party’s poll watcher guide.”

Click here to read the letter.