Baltimore County Leads Referendum Drive Against Cheap Tuition for Illegal Immigrants

An effort to force a recently passed law granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants to the 2012 ballot appears to be driven by voters in Baltimore County, according to information available today on the Maryland State Board of Elections website.

Baltimore County voters make up nearly 23 percent of all signatures collected and turned in to Maryland State Board of Elections officials on May 31.

In all, 14,307 county residents signed the petition. Opponents of the state law, sometimes called the Maryland Dream Act, turned in 62,496 signatures of registered voters from around the state.

By law, the petitioners needed to submit at least 18,579 valid signatures by the end of May. The signatures are then sent to local boards of election around the state for verification.

The petitioners must meet the requirement of collecting 55,736 valid signatures by the end of June.

Of the 8,277 county signatures verified so far, more than 87 percent have been determined valid. If that ratio holds up, the county will deliver 11,202 signatures — about 60 percent of the initial goal of 18,579 signatures by the first deadline, according to the state board of elections website.

Top five jurisdictions based on signatures submitted on May 31 to the Maryland State Board of Elections.