{"id":1561617,"date":"2022-07-19T17:24:28","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T21:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1561617"},"modified":"2022-07-19T17:34:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T21:34:09","slug":"voters-head-to-the-polls-in-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/voters-head-to-the-polls-in-maryland\/","title":{"rendered":"Voters Head to the Polls in Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvoters-head-to-the-polls-in-maryland%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1561617&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Maryland voters are setting the stage for this fall\u2019s election.<\/p>\n<p>It comes after months of campaigning, a three-week delay due to a redistricting court fight and the mailing of hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>What\u2019s happening at the polls<\/h3>\n<p>In Prince George\u2019s County, an elections official told WTOP\u2019s Liz Anderson that the number of voters so far had been comparable to past primaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEspecially for a midterm election, it\u2019s usually light but steady, and it might pick up in the afternoon,\u201d said Donald Benton, a chief judge for the county\u2019s Board of Elections.<\/p>\n<p>One voter, Kadesha Powell Sadiq, said the issues motivating her vote are education, women\u2019s health and crime. She backed Wes Moore to be the Democratic nominee for governor, saying he would be a \u201cgreat and fair leader.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another voter, George, backed Moore as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe better the kids are educated, the more they can succeed in life. And that\u2019s one of the reasons that I\u2019m voting for him, because he spoke so firmly about education,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Another voter named Gene said he was a Republican but voting in the Democratic primary so he could vote for \u201csane people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m pretty much a centrist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Education was foremost on his mind, with so many schoolkids behind on their studies due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a lot of things that need to be done, and we\u2019re barely starting on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>WTOP\u2019s Neal Augenstein spoke with voters at the polling place in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet tw-align-center\" data-partner=\"tweetdeck\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Polls are open in Maryland for primary day. In-person voting til 8, or drop in county ballot box by then. Stay <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WTOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WTOP<\/a> throughout the day and night for the latest. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LYac1AR7rx\">pic.twitter.com\/LYac1AR7rx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Neal Augenstein (@AugensteinWTOP) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AugensteinWTOP\/status\/1549359176056463361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 19, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>With Gov. Larry Hogan on the way out after finishing his second term, some voters are welcoming the incoming change in leadership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t want anybody in place for too long,\u201d one woman who has worked as a poll worker in the past said. \u201cThat\u2019s where you don\u2019t get that change. You could don\u2019t get that chance for opportunity. You don\u2019t get that innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, others aren\u2019t so excited that Hogan\u2019s reached his two-term limit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am hoping that whomever comes in can kind of either carry the mantle forward and do well as he did or whomever comes in doesn\u2019t disrupt things too greatly,\u201d another voter said.<\/p>\n<h3>Voting logistics<\/h3>\n<p>If you want to vote in-person, <a href=\"https:\/\/voterservices.elections.maryland.gov\/PollingPlaceSearch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">you can look up your polling place online<\/a>. Polls are open until 8 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>Some first-time voters in Maryland will be asked to show ID before voting, which can include a driver\u2019s license, student ID card, passport, a utility bill, bank statement or government document that shows your name and address.<\/p>\n<p>If you still have a mail-in ballot, it must be postmarked by July 19. You can also drop it in a ballot drop box in your county by 8 p.m. Tuesday. There are a total of 288 ballot drop boxes throughout Maryland.<\/p>\n<p>You can see a <a href=\"https:\/\/elections.maryland.gov\/voting\/documents\/Primary_Ballot_Drop_Box_List.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">complete list of ballot drop boxes across Maryland on the State Board of Elections website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>What\u2019s on the ballot<\/h3>\n<p>Voters are weighing in on a number of key races, including governor.<\/p>\n<p>A crowded field of candidates on the Democratic side features nine candidates. Polling leading up to primary day indicated the race had tightened to a three-man race among bestselling author Wes Moore; Tom Perez, the former head of the Democratic Party; and the longtime Maryland comptroller Peter Franchot.<\/p>\n<p>Other Democratic candidates include former U.S. Education Secretary John King; former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler; former Obama White House staffer Ashwani Jain; former Clinton administration official Jon Baron; retired teacher Ralph Jaffe and philosopher and perennial candidate Jerome Segal.<\/p>\n<p>On the Republican side, the race has pitted former Commerce Secretary Kelly Schulz, who is backed by Hogan, against challenger Del. Dan Cox, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Former Del. Robin Ficker, an anti-tax advocate, is also seeking the Republican nomination, as is attorney Joe Werner<\/p>\n<p>In addition, voters are picking nominees for Maryland attorney general and comptroller, which acts as the state\u2019s tax collector.<\/p>\n<p>There are several other primary races on the ballot. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who is running for a second term, is facing a primary challenge. All eight of Maryland\u2019s U.S. House seats are on the ballot. There is one open House seat in the 4th District, which includes Prince George\u2019s County, with incumbent Rep. Anthony Brown making a bid for Maryland attorney general.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, there are a slew of local races on the ballot, including closely watched county executive and council races in Montgomery and Prince George\u2019s counties.<\/p>\n<h3>When can you expect results?<\/h3>\n<p>Expect the vote-counting to take much longer than a typical primary.<\/p>\n<p>Maryland election officials cannot start counting mail-in ballots until Thursday at 10 a.m. That means only in-person voting tallies will be reported Tuesday evening \u2014 and it\u2019s possible, given the large number of mail-in ballots, that the outcome of several races won\u2019t be known for several days or even weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The Maryland General Assembly approved legislation this spring that would have allowed local boards of elections to count mail-in ballots early. But Hogan vetoed the measure, saying it lacked election security measures, such as signature verification for mail-in ballots.<\/p>\n<p>How many mail-in ballots are there?<\/p>\n<p>As of Monday, state election officials had sent out nearly 500,000 mail-in ballots to voters and had received back more than 213,000. The number of mail-in ballots received is expected to climb since voters have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to drop their ballots in a drop box, and ballots that are mailed could take even longer to arrive at the board of elections.<\/p>\n<p>That compares with only about <a href=\"https:\/\/elections.maryland.gov\/press_room\/2018_stats\/GP18_Absentee_Counts_ByCounty.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">30,000 mail-in ballots in the 2018 primary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One Marylander told Augenstein that he wants to see improvements to get votes tallied faster and with more accuracy, but that he doesn\u2019t mind waiting in the meantime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s 2022 and we all wonder why we can\u2019t have immediate information because that\u2019s what we\u2019re accustomed to,\u201d a man voting Monday told Augenstein. \u201cBut at the same time, we want clean and accurate results. If we had to wait a couple more days, so they don\u2019t declare the winner today, who cares, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another voter at the polls echoed a similar sentiment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will probably go to sleep without knowing who it is and I am definitely OK with that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h3>How voting compares with 2018<\/h3>\n<p>The number of voters casting ballots in person during early voting this year was a bit lower than four years ago. Overall, about 172,000 Marylanders voted during the week of in-person early voting <a href=\"https:\/\/elections.maryland.gov\/press_room\/2018_stats\/EarlyVoting%20by%20County.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">compared with about 220,000 who voted early<\/a> in the 2018 primary.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the large number of mail-in ballots has pushed the total number of ballots cast ahead of primary day above the early totals in 2018. If you combine early voting with mail-in ballots received, a total of more than 385,000 ballots have been cast this year. That compares with about 252,000 total early votes and mail-in ballots cast in 2018.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Overall, a total of 872,207 Marylanders cast ballots in the 2018 primary, which was the largest raw vote count in a primary in the state\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>Maryland\u2019s primary was pushed back from its original date in late June as the result of a court decision amid legal challenges to a contentious redistricting fight. A redrawn map of House districts approved by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly was <a href=\"https:\/\/wtop.com\/maryland\/2022\/04\/hogan-to-sign-maryland-redistricting-map-into-law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thrown out after a gerrymandering lawsuit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The general election is Nov. 8.<\/p>\n<p><em>WTOP\u2019s Jessica Kronzer contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maryland voters are setting the stage for this fall\u2019s election. It comes after months of campaigning, a three-week delay due to a redistricting court fight and the mailing of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1574540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1561617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1561617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1561617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1561617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1561617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1561617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}