Followup to
this story about misleading flyers in Maryland.
They are handing out similar flyers in Baltimore.
In my precinct in Baltimore City (Hampden, in the 40th District) there were no fewer than four people handing these damned things out.
This "Steele-Ehrlich Democrats" group instructs people to vote for Ehrlich and Steele, plus Republican nominee for Comptroller Anne McCarthy. It then lists a bunch of Democrats to vote for, starting with Eli Cummings who is of course running unopposed in MD-07 (this precinct is actually in MD-03, an open seat, though most of the 40th District is in MD-07) and going down the ticket to races for the City or the 40th where there are generally no Republicans even running. My guess is that they have these things printed for other districts in the city, but I'm going to wait for the reports to come in.
Interestingly enough this GOP flyer hangs Attorney General nominee Scott Rolle out to dry, instructing a vote for Democrat Doug Gansler. (I guess they gave up on that race when their gambit to have Gansler disqualified failed.)
Though I am an attorney, I don't know election law, and though this flyer is misleading and deceitful at best, it's probably not illegal, though it arguably attempts to perpetrate a fraud upon the voters of Baltimore. At the bottom of the flyer, labeled "Official Voter Guide," it does have "Paid and Authorized by Bob Ehrlich for Maryland Committee" and "Paid and Authorized by Steele for Maryland" at the bottom. It also has a disclaimer in red at the bottom of the last page (otherwise given over to a series of arcane ballot questions mostly regarding approval of Baltimore bond issues) that states "In a general election, a registered Democrat can vote for the candidate of their choice, including the Republican nominee, without switching parties." And in the sample ballot it does show Steele, Ehrlich, and McCarthy as Republicans.
The media needs to be alerted about the existence of these flyers. Whatever they are, they are yet another example of Republican dirty tricks - as well as another example of what happens when the GOP money machine floods a statewide race with cash, even in a state like Maryland. They know they can't win fair and square, so they pile the sleaze on thick.