Siding with state elections officials Monday, a circuit judge allowed them to proceed with Maryland’s forthcoming primary with ballots that do not include the name of Valerie Ervin, the last-minute Democratic candidate for governor.
Ervin’s name will appear instead on ballots as the running mate of the late Kevin Kamenetz, the former Baltimore County executive who had been one of the leading contenders in the June 26 Democratic primary before dying of a heart attack in early May.
Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge William C. Mulford said making a change to millions of ballots with just over a week until early voting begins threatened to cause more confusion than allowing for the rare appearance on the ballot of a deceased candidate and his running mate….
State law allows elections administrators to put stickers on ballots to reflect late changes. But officials ruled out the option. Lamone said the election machine manufacturer had recommended strongly against using stickers and said that trying them was too risky.
“You’re asking approximately two million stickers to be applied accurately,” Lamone said.