As stated previously, I will be voting NO on Question 2, the slots referendum. Now, I will talk about the other question on the docket, Question 1, which turned out to be the red headed stepchild this election year.

Question 1 is an actual constitutional issue involving early voting. This law would allow you to vote up to 10 days before the actual Election Day at any precinct of your choosing. In other words, instead of voting at my precinct in South Laurel, Prince George’s County, I can choose to vote at a precinct on the Eastern Shore. Early voting is a cool idea, but Maryland needs to handle the basics of running an election first before expanding to new ideas. I will be voting NO on Question 1 and urge you to do the same.

Let me further say that in all honesty, I do not believe that the state of Maryland is taking seriously how important it is to keep the voting process protected, especially in these times of identity theft. You would think that asking for a simple ID before you are allowed to vote would be common sense in this day and age. Instead, there is a group of people who would have you believe that doing such a thing is racist and then proceed to bring up how racist idiots did that as a way to discourage minorities to vote in the past. I would think we have gotten to the point where the populous would not accept that. Personally, I would welcome the opportunity to prove that I am Paul Kenneth Burns.

The other problem is the machines themselves. They were already proven to be not secure over five years ago, right here in Maryland at Johns Hopkins. The very same security issues have been raised over and over again since that time.  The very idea that they were implemented without a paper trail is disturbing in and of itself. IT’S A COMPUTER! A computer is a machine made by man and man is not perfect.  To hold an important proceeding without a back up is sloppy and careless.

You also have to be concerned about the logistics of a ballot in Montgomery County from someone whose precinct is in Washington County. This has the potential of not working flawlessly, based on the fact that someone can easily pretend to be you. At the very least, parties interested in voting early should be required to do so in their own districts.

Overall, you should be concerned about how careless Annapolis is treating the electoral process in this bill. Not surprising to me, since back in January, Governor Martin O’Malley (D) reluctantly decided to follow federal guidelines that would require people to prove that they are U.S. citizens before they receive their driver’s license. Along the same lines, O’Malley wanted to give licenses to anyone who could pass the driving test. At this point, I cannot really trust Annapolis to protect my identity, let alone my vote.

In addition to the two statewide questions, I will also be voting NO on Question F in Prince George’s County. Allow me to take this last moment to highlight County Executive Jack Johnson’s (D) latest demonstration of being out of touch.  Johnson, who was being interviewed by WUSA-TV (Channel 9), said on camera, “I have never met a citizen in our county, that didn’t say that they support public education.” Does this guy hear the words coming out of his mouth?

Listen to what he is saying. Johnson is saying that he is going to punish you by raising the tax on your house phone and your wireless phone because we are not openly calling down to Upper Marlboro and telling him that we love our school system and we support public education on a daily basis. OK, if you are not thinking punishment, you should at least think retaliation -- backwards retaliation at that. This is the same guy who earlier this week stated that slots would shift the burden of funding education to people who can least afford it. Do I really need to go any further?

In addition to Johnson’s “brilliance,” think about this. When the county came to it’s citizens in 1996 and askedto raise property taxes to fund education, the citizens said no. The school system budget was still able to get funded, to a point that it’s budget is now over $1 billion. They have also placed a down payment on a new building for school system headquarters. In addition to the budget that grew and the house of dreams, they had a surplus going into this fiscal year and they have been losing students to other jurisdictions for the past five years, if not more.

While I am not questioning the need for a new building, especially since they are intending on converting their current building back to a school, I think it’s time to ask: Would $17 million really make or break the Prince George’s County school system? I sincerely doubt it since their budget is already at $1 billion.

So to recap, I am voting no on questions one and two. I will also be voting no on Question F in Prince George’s County. If you want to send a message to our leaders that you will no longer accept slop, I urge you to do the same.

P. Kenneth Burns is a broadcaster and journalist who blogs at Maryland Politics Today and blog.kennyburns.com.