Supporters of a voter-verifiable paper trail at the ballot box blamed a Senate committee for the sudden death of a bill that would have brought the paper backup system to Maryland in time for the 2010 election.

“You certainly don’t believe in their heart of hearts that they wanted to do it,” said Del. Sheila Hixson, D-Montgomery County, who sponsored the bill in the House of Delegates. “I don’t believe it’s the money. … I don’t think there’s the political will there to do it.”

Sen. Edward Kasemeyer, D-Baltimore County, who sponsored the Senate version, said advocates asked him to effectively kill the bill when it came up for a preliminary vote Monday.

Kasemeyer said the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee cut large portions of the original bill, including a requirement for routine audits of certain ballots at the end of each election and a specification that the paper records be separate from each other instead of printed on a continuous roll of paper.

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“I wasn’t happy with the way the committee dealt with the bill,” Kasemeyer said. “There were some people who believed that what was left they felt OK with. ... I think we’re making a mistake.”

Earlier this month, the House version passed unanimously without much revision. A similar bill passed the House last year and failed in the Senate. Hixson said senators last year objected to the cost and short notice of implementing a verifiable paper trail so close to the election.

“There’s certainly enough time now … and the governor’s certainly behind it,” Hixson said. “And we didn’t ask for the money this year because of the crisis we’re facing.”

Hixson said she hoped lawmakers would find a funding source next year to pay the estimated $17 million to $18 million bill for new voting equipment.

stracy@baltimoreexaminer.com