Did elections officials prepare ? at all? for primary day? From the snafus Tuesday it seems many chose not to bother.
In Baltimore County, a moving company delivered voting machines to the wrong school. The Republican chief election judge at the site alerted officials to the mistake Monday evening, but they insisted the machines were at the right location.
Huh? Were they too tired to double check? As a result, machines did not start running until 10:30 a.m. at Western School of Technology in Catonsville, 3.5 hours after polls opened. It shows total incompetence on the part of Baltimore County elections officials. Who knows how many people didn?t vote as a result? That was just one of many problems preventing citizens from exercising their constitutional right to vote yesterday.
In Baltimore City, both Democratic and Republican judges failed to show up. Judges make $125 per day ? those who did not do their jobs must not be paid. Where were they? Who were they? Gene Raynor, the director of elections in Baltimore City, must release the names of those who did not fulfill their duty. Voters deserve to know who disenfranchised them. The no-shows mean voters found themselves locked out of polling stations. Officials extended voting an extra hour until 9 p.m., but who knows if those spurned in the morning returned.
In Montgomery County, elections officials failed to include authorization cards used to start voting machines in packets sent to poll stations. Neither did workers include enough paper ballots to serve as a backup, so many people were turned away after waiting an hour or more.
Elsewhere, machines froze or mistakenly told people that they had already cast votes. Is this the United States? Iraq?s election appeared to run more smoothly.
Many people choose not to vote. By doing so they undermine the fundamental idea and practice of government for the people and by the people. It?s wrong. But when the government prevents people from doing so, it?s criminal.
Every county with “irregularities” must submit a detailed explanation to local newspapers outlining any errors and a plan for running a smooth and error-free general election. We all want to know that our votes count. But first we need to be able to vote.
Let the election officials below know what you experienced:
Baltimore City
» Armstead Jones, president (R); Eleanor Wang, secretary (R); Stephen Medura, member (D); Gilda Johnson, alternate member (R); Lionel Murphy, alternate member (D); Gene Raynor, election director; Cornelius Jones, election deputy director.
» Phone: 410-396-5550; fax: 410-962-8747; e-mail: [email protected].
Baltimore County
» Marjorie Neuman, president; Norman Pepersack , vice president; Robert Seidel, secretary; Jacqueline McDaniel, director; Katie Brown, deputy director.
» Phone: 410-887-5700; fax: 410-887-0894; e-mail: [email protected].
Harford County
» Katherine Anderson, member (D); James Massey, secretary (R); Gregory Seltzer, member (R); Russell Stansbury, member (D); Edward Yoder, president (R); Kevin Keene, board counsel.
» Phone: 410-638-3565 or 410-879-2000 ; fax: 410-638-3310; e-mail: [email protected].
Carroll County
» Janet Jump (R), president; Pauline Kram (D), vice president; Griffith Manahan (R); Charles Foreman (D), substitute member; Stanley Pennington (R), substitute member; Richard Murray, attorney.
» Phone: 410-386-2080; fax: 410-876-3925; e-mail: [email protected].
Anne Arundel County
» Barbara Fisher, election director; Carole Streeting, deputy election director.
» Phone: 410- 222-6600; fax: 410-222-6833; e-mail: [email protected].
