Elections bill takes a slap at the Constitution

This hasn't been a good General Assembly session for Maryland voters. Legislation to require a paper trail for state elections is apparently dead. But that's not the half of it.

The state Senate and the House have passed a measure that - if it had been in effect in 2004 - would have cast all 10 of Maryland's electoral votes for George W. Bush, even though this state's voters picked John Kerry.

And this would be done in the name of democratic principles. Go figure.

The same measure also blows a juicy raspberry at the Constitution's built-in system for amendments.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jamie Rankin of...