By Stephanie Samuel

Sentinel Staff Writer

State Board of Elections officials said this is a record year when it comes to requests for voter registration. However false rumors of rules governing voter registration may threat those gains,

When asked about the number of Maryland residents registering to vote, State Board of Elections Director of Voter Registration Mary Wagner said, "Oh my goodness, it's off the charts." Wagner said it and local boards of elections are busy processing forms. The number of calls has dramatically increased."

However in some those calls have been about alleged voting rules that, if not addressed, may keep some from voting at all.

"This issue has been around every presidential election," said Prince George's County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Terry Speigner said. The "rules" stem from rumors that have been circulating in various communities and many times are untrue. However, he said that the problem has become a bigger one thanks to technology.

"E-mail is really where a lot of these things spread," he said

The rumor that has been widespread in Prince George's County says that homeowners facing foreclosure cannot vote. State Board of Elections officials say that foreclosure has no bearing on one's right to vote. To fight the spread of this rumor and others, state and local officials joined forces to cover as much ground as possible.

Speigner says he and other Democrats have been speaking out at barbeques and cookouts.

"We're trying to go out and talk to people," he said. County Elections Administrator Alisha Alexander has taken to talk radio to explain and refute rumors. State Board of Elections officials have compiled a list of rumors and pair them up with the facts on their Web site. So far it's working, said Elections Management Division Director Donna Duncan. Since being posted on the State Board of Elections Web site Sept. 28, Duncan says it has received 28,631 hits.

"It is one of the more frequently visited parts it our Web site along with our voter registration," she says.

Among the rumored rules is the myth that if a voter's name does not exactly match his/her driver's license, that person will not be allowed to vote. The truth is Maryland voters are not required to show any identification at their poll place. Instead, they are only asked to provide their name.

Another rumor states that voters who wear partisan campaign buttons or T-shirts to the polls will not be allowed to vote. This rumor is false; however it gained legs when celebrity comedian and talk show host Steve Harvey announced the rumor on his morning show.

"Once he said that on his show in Prince Georgians got up in arms and said, 'is this true? Is this true?'" Speigner said.

Speigner said the rumor is true in some states. However, in Maryland, voters wearing campaign paraphernalia may cast their votes unchallenged also long as they do not linger around the polling place afterwards.

On college campuses, two rumors have spread: One says that students cannot register to vote using their campus address. Another says that students who register to vote using a campus address will lose their dependant status on their taxes. Both rumors are untrue.

For the most part, those circulating the rumors, such as Harvey, do not know that they are false. Speigner says the best way to refute these rumors is to, ironically enough, is "put the information back out to them" via e-mail. He calls it fighting fire with fire.

"E-mail has helped by putting an end to these rumors."

There are, however rumor tactics that are knowingly employed to suppress voter turnout. Absentee voter ballots are sent out to the homes of voters. The intention is for voters to fill them out and send them back. However the address from on the application is false and will never reach the board, thus eliminating a vote. The tactic is called caging. Speigner says that tactic is more prevalent in swing states; Maryland is not a swing state. However he says county residents have family in other, important states such as Ohio. He encourages people to send the information out. The Maryland state deadline for voter registration is Monday.

Contact Stephanie Samuel at

ssamuel@thesentinel.com