Questioning the validity of the petitions and the legality of a referendum to overturn the Maryland granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, Casa de Maryland and eight Marylanders have sued the State Board of Elections, asking the court to cancel the planned referendum on the law and allow its provisions to take effect now. [...more]
So what is Pat McDonough running for this week? Would you believe U.S. Senate? McDonough, a three-term Republican delegate from Middle River, has been talking for months about challenging Democratic Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger in the 2nd Congressional District.McDonough said Thursday that would be an “uphill battle” but “a winnable race." But if the Democrats start monkeying with the district lines and the 2nd District turns from uphill to “impossible,” he’ll try to be the Republican nominee against Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. [...more]
Opponents of the Maryland DREAM Act say they have collected more than twice the number of petition signatures needed to put the controversial new law on the 2012 general election ballot. [...more]
Responding to a Public Information Act request, the State Board of Elections gave immigrant advocacy group Casa de Maryland a disk with names, addresses and signatures of people who have signed the petition to bring in-state tuition for illegal immigrants to the ballot in 2012. [...more]
UPDATE TUESDAY 9 P.M.: Local elections boards have now counted 31,000 valid signatures on the petition drive to overturn the law granting resident tuition to illegal immigrants, over 12,000 more than than needed to meet the first goal, according to the State Board of Elections website Tuesday evening. [...more]
Local boards of elections Friday started validating the signatures on what turns out to be somewhat fewer petitions than originally claimed to overturn the law granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. With some boards working on the weekend, as of Monday morning, the count now stands at 9,280 valid signatures, 1,283 invalid. Two counties with almost a third of the petitions, Anne Arundel and Harford, have not processed any signatures. [...more]
Opponents of granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, who are trying to bring the issue to referendum, said they submitted 62,496 signatures on petitions late Tuesday night, far higher than their estimates. [...more]
Opponents of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants submitted over 40,000 signatures on petitions to put the measure on the November 2012 ballot, more than twice what they needed for Tuesday’s first deadline. They needed to have at least 18,579 by Tuesday and Washington County Republican Del. Neil Parrott said, “We know that some of them are going to be thrown out.” [...more]
There was more than the usual hubbub at the bill signing ceremony Tuesday when more than 100 people crowded behind Gov. Martin O’Malley for four sets of photos as he signed a bill granting in-state college tuition rates to illegal immigrants who graduate from Maryland high schools. From senators and clergymen to high school students in T-shirts who wouldn’t give their last names, the mood was joyous as the crowd celebrated years of struggle, phone banks and lobbying. [...more]
Shortly after we posted an earlier blog about the elimination of the Distinguished Scholars program, Gov. Martin O'Malley issued a statement rescinding the withdrawal of scholarships to this year’s graduating seniors. He said: “Earlier today, I ordered the Maryland Higher Education Commission to restore funding to the 350 Maryland seniors who were counting on the $3,000 Distinguished Scholars award they earned to attend a Maryland college or university.” [...more]
