Primary election challenges mark road to general election

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006

by Guy Leonard

Staff Writer

The confusion and strife from the Sept. 12 primary isn’t over.

Several candidates are pursuing challenges that could still affect the Nov. 7 general election.

County Council District 4

Bowie Mayor G. Frederick Robinson is challenging the vote count that put his opponent, retired Navy commander Ingrid Turner, on the path to the District 4 seat that Douglas J.J. Peters is vacating. Turner beat Robinson by a 58-vote margin.

Robinson’s legal counsel claims that provisional ballots were validated by elections board staff members instead of by board members, a possible violation of election law.

Robinson’s attorney Abigail Ross Hopper claimed that election staff members counted some provisional ballots without proper oversight. Robinson also challenged the security of voting cards used to verify vote counts, saying he heard cases where they weren’t secured inn some precincts; some were even in the trash.

Robinson is waiting for a response from the board of elections about his complaint and may take legal action if the board can’t or won’t investigate.

State Senate District 23

County Councilman Douglas J.J. Peters is involved in an electoral challenge filed by his state Senate opponent, Bobby Henry, a local lawyer and minister, for control of the District 23 Senate seat from which Sen. Leo Green is retiring.

Henry’s representatives have said some voters have reported that they didn’t case ballots because Henry’s name did not appear in some ballots. Henry has filed a petition with the board of elections to investigate the claims; he may pursue legal action.

Henry lost to Peters by 569 votes.

At-Large School Board

The lineup for the at-large school board candidates could still change, depending on a decision by state Sen. Gloria Lawlah of Hillcrest Heights.

Lawlah was the third highest at-large vote getter. Her name remained on the ballot, even though she withdrew from the campaign in August, because she missed a deadline.

Voters chose eight at-large candidates in the primary, to run for four of the nine school board seats.

Lawlah hasn’t said whether her showing in the primary will induce her to return to the school board race, but she appears to be leaning that way.

If Lawlah bows out, the ninth highest at-large vote getter, Rev. Tony Lee, would slip onto the general election ballot. Lawlah said she supported Lee but would ‘‘need to look at his numbers before I do anything.”

Lawlah said she isn’t convinced Lee could win, noting, ‘‘I’m wondering if he could go from No. 8 to No. 1 through No. 4.”

School Board District 3

Incumbent school board member Judy Mickens-Murray has filed a petition in Prince George’s County Circuit Court to stop certification of the ballots cast in the school board District 3 election because of alleged improper conduct by the top vote getter, Pat Fletcher of Landover.

Mickens-Murray’s complaint says Fletcher used her political connections as a Democratic Party central committee member to influence voting.

Mickens-Murray, who came in third and thus isn’t scheduled to be on the November ballot, argued Fletcher elevated herself as a Democratic candidate in a primary that is non-partisan.

‘‘One of the things that was obvious [on Election Day] was that Ms. Fletcher was attached to the Democratic Party,” Mickens-Murray said. ‘‘It’s definitely supposed to be a non-partisan race.”

Mickens-Murray’s complaint says that Fletcher acted as a ‘‘poll captain” Election Day and wore a shirt denoting support for County Executive Jack Johnson’s reelection bid.

Her campaign also says Fletcher inserted her campaign literature in Johnson’s, although Johnson had endorsed Mickens-Murray.

Once the board of elections receives the summons from the court, it will have 30 days to respond to Mickens-Murray’s complaint, according to Circuit Court Clerk Rosalyn Pugh.

The summons went out Wednesday.

Fletcher, who was supported by Sen. Nathaniel Exum (D-Dist.24) of Capitol Heights, declined to comment.

Regina Williams, who lives in the same neighborhood as Fletcher, came in second in the district.

Mickens-Murray has said she will file as a write-in candidate. By doing so, her name would appear as an option at the polling precincts but not on the ballot.

Voters who support her would touch the ‘‘write-in” prompt on the electronic voting machine and type in her name as their write-in selection.

Candidates do not have to file as a write-in candidate to be written in by a voter.

E-mail Guy Leonard at gleonard@gazette.net.