Voter Fraud Allegations Drive Democrat Wendy Rosen Out Of The First District Congressional Race, 9/11 Commemorations, and Spending On The Casino Gambling Ballot Measure

Allegations of voter fraud have lead Democrat Wendy Rosen to drop out of the First District Congressional race, where she was challenging Republican incumbent Andy Harris. Rosen appears to have voted in both Florida and Maryland in three election: the general election in 2006 and both the primary and the general in 2008. Under certain circumstances, a person can be registered to vote in more than one jurisdiction -- but a Maryland voter would be forbidden to vote in state or federal elections in another state. When asked yesterday by the Baltimore Sun if she voted twice in the 2008 presidential primaries, Rosen declined to comment "due to possible litigation." The Maryland Democratic party brought the voter fraud allegations to light; it also called on Rosen to withdraw, and has asked the State Attorney General's office to conduct a full investigation. Democrats say they plan to select a write-in candidate to replace Rosen as the party nominee after votes from central committees in the First District, but it's likely that Rosen's name will stay on the ballot, as the deadline to remove it passed last month (more here from the Washington Post and the Frederick News Post).

Today marks the eleventh anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, and there are numerous events across Maryland to mark the anniversary. There's information here from the Baltimore Sun and here from the Frederick News Post.

The company hoping to build a casino at National Harbor in Prince George's County has now spent $5.4-million dollars on ad campaigns designed to drum up support for a ballot question that could lead to an expanson of Maryland's casino gambling program (via the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun).

Governor Martin O'Malley is heading a trade delegation to Israel next month (via the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, and the Daily Record). 

The Director of the Maryland Energy Administration is headed to Washington DC; Malcolm Woolf has led the MEA for the past five years... he's leaving to take a job as Vice President of a new a national business association called "Advanced Energy Economy" (via the Baltimore Sun).

Folks who ride MARC trains had a good August. The Maryland Transit Administration says that MARC trains were on time 95 percent of the time last month -- that's the best ever on-time record for that period (via the MTA).

The Frederick County Board of Education is set to discuss whether to reinstate a policy allows the system to discipline student athletes for underage drinking off school property. Currently, student athletes can only be punished for alcohol related incidents that happen on campus or at school sponsored activities (via the Frederick News Post).

The parent company of Old Line Bank has announced the purchase of Washington Savings Bank for $49-million. The merger will create the fifth largest independent commercial bank in Maryland, with combined assets of more than a billion dollars (via our wire service and the Washington Business Journal).

The City of Baltimore rolled out the red carpet yesterday, to honor hometown hero Michael Phelps. State and local officials were joined by hundreds of fans yesterday at the Inner Harbor to celebrate Phelps and other Maryland Olympians (via our wire service and the Baltimore Sun). 

In sports news: the Ravens routed the Cincinnatti Bengals yesterday, beating them 44 to 13.

And: the Orioles are hoping for a similar performance when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays tonight at Camden Yards; the game starts at 7:05pm.