In Court Filing, Sheila Dixon Demands More Transparency From Elections Officials

Mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon filed for a court order Tuesday, asking a Baltimore judge to force more transparency in a state review of Baltimore's primary.

While the state board of elections has opened some of the process to the media, Dixon wants the audit entirely open to the media and general public, according to the motion filed against the city and state boards of elections. The state board ordered Baltimore's results de-certified last week, citing among their concerns post-election checks that were not completed and provisional ballots that were not counted.

"This afternoon, I petitioned the court to allow the public to observe the actions of the Board of Elections because it's critically important for Baltimore City voters to have faith in our election process through transparency and openness," Dixon said in a statement. "There is no reason for any part of the vote certification process to be kept hidden from the public. It is my hope that the courts force the Boards of Election to allow the public to observe these proceedings immediately."

The motion filed in city circuit court cites state open meetings laws. Dixon is asking the court to halt the re-canvass of the votes until the process is entirely opened up to public view.

There's been no comment yet from elections officials.

In the original totals and projections, Dixon was narrowly defeated by state Sen. Catherine Pugh in the Democratic mayoral primary. Elections officials have said that any audit would be unlikely to cause any change to the city's results. In heavily Democratic Baltimore, the primary winner typically goes on to win the general election.