Maryland GOP Gives Voters The Last Word

When Marylanders go to the polls in November, the most interesting races might not involve political candidates.

The state’s voters will elect eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives and one U.S. senator, and will help choose a president, but an unprecedented slate of ballot initiatives is expected to set the state’s course on social issues, including same-sex marriage and illegal immigration, and potentially on gambling and congressional redistricting.

This will be the first time in 20 years that a voter-petitioned referendum makes the state’s ballot, and as many as three could appear. All were initiated by Republicans who have embraced online technology as a way to distribute petitions and fight legislation enacted by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.

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