Baltimore’s top election official said he fears the city will be embarrassed come Election Day if an historic turnout of voters unprepared for several ballot questions could result in jammed polls.
Armstead Jones, director of Baltimore City’s Board of Elections, said he is concerned voters will be ill-prepared for the complex ballot during the Nov. 4 presidential election. In addition to the candidates, voters in Baltimore will consider two statewide ballot questions — including the slots referendum — and 16 other ballot questions.
The city, Jones said, could “stick out like a sore thumb.”
“People have a habit of not reading those issues until they get into the voting machines,” Jones said. “Historic turnout is going to compound that. There are going to be long lines.”Jones said he has established a hotline for voters to check their poll location before leaving home or work and hired “greeter judges” to determine if voters are at the correct polling location before getting in line. He encouraged voters to fill out sample ballots that will be mailed next week and bring them into the voting booth.
He is also urging voters to cast their ballots between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
This year marks the third consecutive election when significant turnout was anticipated in Baltimore, said Sterling Clifford, spokesman for Mayor Sheila Dixon.
“The board has done a magnificent job each and every time,” Clifford said. “We have faith in their ability but we will, of course, be watching closely.”
The ballot questions in Baltimore mostly give lawmakers authority to borrow funds for various departments. Voters also will determine a charter amendment establishing a new Department of General Services.
Most polling places could have waiting times of more than two hours at some point on Election Day if voters take more than six minutes each to mark their ballots, according to a study conducted by physicist William Edelstein of Save our Votes, a nonprofit election watchdog group.
