The first time inside a voting booth may not be as memorable as other firsts, but to many first-time Maryland voters, it may be just as important.
New voters at the Engine House on Light Street during Tuesday?s primaries said they hope to see the results of their efforts and understand the impact they make at the polls.
“I bought a house in Baltimore recently,” first-time Maryland voter Anthony Martin said, “and I like the city so much, but it needs a lot of work: more police patrols, better lighting in alleys and less rats running across my street.”
The 25-year-old Republican and recent college graduate said he voted for incumbent Gov. Robert Ehrlich. “I believe in him,” he said. “I like the way he carries himself, and I think he will be able to make changes” in Baltimore as well as across the state.
First-timer Heather Mork, 18, of Reisterstown, came to the polls on a mission to support Republican Michael Steele for U.S. Senate.
“It wasn?t all that exciting,” she said of casting her first vote ever. “There were a lot of names I didn?t recognize, but I wanted to cast a vote for Senate.”
“I?m trying to make voting a habit,” said another first-time Maryland voter, William D., who said he hasn?t voted in years. The 28-year-old nonprofit employee ? originally from Florida ? said he believes voting “holds our leaders accountable and every vote does count.”
He said he uses an array of online sources, such as candidates? and newspaper Web sites, in order to make informed decisions.
First-time Maryland voter Gail Gibson voted for “the Democrats” for decades as a New York resident. She said her first experience voting in Maryland was great. She said the hardest decision she made was supporting incumbent Comptroller William Donald Schaefer.
“I don?t like what he has to say about women, but I think he has always beena good comptroller,” she said.
