How The Sun traced the Election Night robocalls

By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

The number was untraceable - almost.

On Election Night in 2010, The Baltimore Sun's switchboard lit up with reports of a suspicious "robocall": it told voters to relax, that President Obama and Gov.Martin O'Malley had been successful, and that there was nothing left to do but wait for the results. Those who called us said they believed the call was a trick to keep Democratic voters home, and one person provided the number from their caller ID.

Naturally, The Sun wanted to know who was behind the call; Democrats including Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake immediately had tried to pin it on former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign, but his camp vehemently denied it and the Republican party was calling for an investigation. Some speculated that it was actually the Democrats, trying to make voters think Republicans were attempting to suppress their vote.