Could Baltimore Voters Be Called Back To The Polls?

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Could Baltimore voters be called back to the polls for a second city primary? An election watchdog group is moving forward with a federal complaint asking that the April 26 primary results be declared null and void.

Political reporter Pat Warren has the latest on what that means.

It means the group has to prove to the court that voter irregularities were so widespread, they influenced the outcome of the election.

The group Voters Organized for the Integrity of City Elections told WJZ Friday it is prepared to make a case that the April election was an absolute disaster.

In a news conference Thursday, the group's leaders accused the city and state election boards of violating election laws in the city's primary.

"The effects of what occurred had a disproportionate effect on the citizens of Baltimore City," said J. Wyndal Gordon, attorney.

"And it's not so much intent," added Hassan Giordano, VOICE. "Even if you don't intend and screw up, if you violate the election laws whether it's intent, it still happened."

Election watchdogs cited late openings at polling places, a rush to train election judges, voters who were turned away or otherwise misdirected and data files of results that went missing for a day. The state board added questions about the provisional ballot count to the list.

"The problem is it's yet to be established that there were these large systemic problems. We do have a lot of anecdotal evidence," said Mileah Kromer, Goucher Field Politics Center.

Kromer, the director of the Goucher College Field Politics Center, tells WJZ one group's complaints may not be enough to convince a judge that the entire election should be done over.

"And so, until that burden of proof can be established, what we see is an election that Baltimoreans were very proud of -- turnout levels were higher than they had been ever -- and now, the whole thing seems to be for naught if you're calling into question the legitimacy, and I think that's really tough for a lot of people to swallow," said Kromer.

But if the group proves its case -- and it says it can -- this will be one for the record books.

The attorney for the group told WJZ Friday he's confident of the evidence and looks forward to meeting the burden of proof.

A hearing date could be set next week.