There were a lot of very frustrated folks at the polling station at Silver Spring branch of Montgomery County Library (on Colesville Rd.) between 7:30 and 8:15. I was one of those who was told they were running out of provisional ballots and I would have to come back later - which I cannot do because of my job. There was also a lot of grumbling about whether provisional ballots were going to be counted and the disorganization that seemed to be present. It's hard to believe that many of these folks will come back in November after this bad experience.

There was a minor problem with a machine at check-in - it wasn't accepting the card. But the second one worked fine and I was able to vote around 8:30a.

Polling place: Clopper Mill Elem. School, Germantown

I was in line at 7am in Bethesda. It took them about 20 min. to start issueing provisional ballots since they did not have the eletronic voter cards. Several people left because they had be at work ect. There was a lot of confusion but the election judges were trying very hard to make the system work as well as they could.

If this disorganization of the election gets worse, the question that comes to mind, "Is there a demographic pattern to the problems, are they like the Ohio and Florida election shenanigans, with trouble only in the poor areas that might vote Democratic, or are the problems system-wide?"

At 8am in Bethesda, I was told I was the first person to vote on the machines. The very nice and dedicated volunteer poll workers probably had an awful morning. To those who do this generally thankless job - Thanks.
To those who were paid to deliver the voting cards so that the machines would work for the voters on time -- oooppps. Their bad day may get even worse.

I thought voting would be routine this a.m. but was surprised at the lack of privacy when casting my vote. The diebold machines have a small screen on each side of the voting screen but anyone with 20/20 vision and standing in line could have seen my vote. Further, at least two people from the neighborhood were not in the system. I hope this does not portend similar issues statewide.

It's all part of Karl Rove's master plan!

"Is there a demographic pattern to the problems, are they like the Ohio and Florida election shenanigans, with trouble only in the poor areas that might vote Democratic, or are the problems system-wide?"

Perish the thought that it might have something to do with incompetent people working the polls. Why, oh why might that be more prevalent in Democrat areas where some only get a pay raise when the minimum wage is increased?

The only snag I encountered this morning was that they couldn't find my name in the new computer check-in system initially. They found me after a minute or two and I was able to vote without a problem.

Polling place: Lakelands Park Middle School, Gaithersburg.

I went to vote in the MD primary and found out that because I am an Independent, I was unable to vote for anyone but the school board. I was VERY upset and chose to walk out. I was told that there are CLOSED primaries in MD and that unless you belong to the Dems or Reps parties that you cannot vote (except school board). It is NOT that way in other states I was told by another voter in my same boat. I was shocked and extremely disappointed. It's very undemocratic and unfair!! What can I do??

Ann, I also was concerned about privacy when voting in MoCo. The poll worker checked my computerized form while I was voting and sort of stood over me while I tried to concentrate. I'm sure he was just trying to be helpful and he was very nice, but it made me uncomfortable and I found it very distracting. (It reminded me of when you were a kid and you thought the kid next to you in class was was trying to read your paper.) They also have a package or envelope on the side of the voting machine that the poll worker was stuffing something into and working on. That also was distracting.
Voting is and should be a private pleasure. I miss the curtains that you could close.

Loren W:

Most states have closed primaries. The rationale is to prevent the nomination of weak primary candidates by the opposition. One exception is VA, which is probably the state the other voter referred to, but MD is not in the minority w/ closed primaries.

Why should you be able to help choose the nominee of a party that you are not a member of? Shouldn't the members of the party be able to have the full say over who the nominee of their party is going to be? If you want to help choose the nominee of the Republican or Democratic party, then join one of the parties.

From what I could find on the web, it looks like 26 states (and DC) have closed primaries, so it is that way in just over half the states.

Loren W:

Many other states -- something like 15, I believe -- do in fact use a closed primary system that, like Maryland's, excludes independents. (Another 13 or so, I think, have a closed system that allows independents to vote while excluding people from other parties.) So the other voter who told you that things were different in other states wasn't exactly right. There are states that have open primaries, but Maryland is hardly alone in its approach.

Also, I'm not sure I agree with you that Maryland's system is "very undemocratic and unfair." Independents, like everyone else, are allowed to vote in the general election, but primaries are about determining who will represent a particular party. It seems reasonable to me for a state to decide that those determinations should be left to those who actually belong to the party. Why should someone who has consciously decided not to join a party have a say in who will be its standard bearer? (Don't misunderstand; there's nothing wrong with registering as an independent. But such a decision, like most decisions in life, has consequences, not all of them favorable.)

As to your question of what can you do, the answer, I think, is that you can change your registration from independent to that of a party, so that in the future you will be able to vote in that party's primary.

22 states have open primaries, 3 have blanket or special primaries and the rest have closed primaries or cacauses. In some like Ct. you need to get 20% of the delegaes in the cacaus to then be allowed to primary.

As an independent voter, I choose not to belong to any party, but as a taxpayer in PG Co MD, I should be able to vote for whomever I want, independent of the party. The rationale is true in some states and not others so clearly it's a reasonable and logical way to run the process. I don't agree with this CLOSED primary business and think it is very unfair and undemocratic. This two party system business is antiquated- there are many people who are not "feeling" either party who are in my same boat and it's a shame we have no voice. Especially since my state's Democratic winners will probably win the general in Nov.

Too bad we didn't have 5 full days of this mess with early voting and people trying to get different ballots at only 3 open polling places and make sure folks didn't go from precinct to precinct voting at each. Sounds like Linda Lamone and the state board of elections are well prepared for all possibilities. Way to go guys.

Mark P-

Thanks for that explanation. What you are saying makes sense but I just don't believe that Independents should be excluded. And yes, I have to deal with the consequences of my choice to be Independent. Had I known consequences in advance, I would have stayed in my former party. Thanks everyone for the research on this matter. This has been a very disappointing day and I'm sure I'll cringe as I watch the election results this evening. Oh well.

Problems are not limited to Montgomery County. PG County - District #21 had only provisional ballots when the polls opened this morning. I've been voting in the same polling location for over 30 years and never encountered any problems before. The entire Board of Election Supervisors should be fired and anyone else involved in this fiasco should be terminated. This reflects poorly upon the State of Maryland and certainly upon the current administration which has responsibility for maintaining electoral integrity.

"Especially since my state's Democratic winners will probably win the general in Nov."...
This is precisely why I'm registered as a Democrat, because I want to have a say in local politics.

I was unable to vote this morning in Baltimore. I arrived at 7 AM and was fourth in line. The workers were still scrambling to put up signs, open voting machines and set them up! I left at 7:45 without voting--in addition to the machines being set up late, there were not enough Republican election judges there so no one could vote (you need a Republican and Democrat election judge there to monitor each district). I work near DC, and my commute won't allow me to make it back in time to go back to the polling place. I am absolutely disgusted with the way things went today. My polling place was Chase Court in Baltimore.

Polling place: Christ the King Church, Silver Spring
Time: 7:30am

We were told we could vote using provisional ballot but election judges didn't know what to do or how to do it. They were furiously flipping through the book. No assurances that ballots would be counted. We left. Hope to go back later.

Best part was the election judge who never put her donut down while trying (feebly) to explain this to us. Kept munching away.

As a PS, why is it ok to vote in a church?

This morning I waited in Silver Spring from 7-7:30 to find out that the voter cards were not there. I was told I could wait for an unknown amount of time or vote with provisional ballot (that would not be counted for several days). It was disappointing to say the least!

Ran back at 11:40 and there were zero people in line, I had no problems whatsoever with the machine.

Feel bad for the people working the polls as voters are likely taking it out on them when it's the Board's fault ... this "human error". They better fix the "error" by November!

As for independents not being able to vote, my bigger question is why are you just realizing this today? Did the forms when you registered not inform you of that ages ago?

I voted at 9am at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda without a hitch. I was a registered independent until a few weeks ago, when I changed my affiliation to democrat so I could vote in the primaries. When you live in a state that is dominated by a single party and the primaries often count more than the general election, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. My father was a registered democrat in Md. for 30 years for that very reason, even though he considered himself a republican. My biggest gripe - can we move election day to the weekend so that most people will have more time available during their day to vote? Morning voting was my only option, as is the case for many people. Plus, weekend voting would prevent having to close schools, which leaves many parents scrambling for childcare.

I had no problems voting this morning at 7:25 am in Wheaton (Holiday Park Senior Center on Ferrara Ave). I was in the system, got a card, and the machine accepted it on the 3rd try.

My husband had one problem-he was in their system but the poll worker's machine could not print out the record for him to sign. They still let him vote so we hope it will be counted!

I was shocked when I got to my polling place, Chevy Chase Library on Connecticut Ave., at 8:00 am and found that I could not vote. I chose not to vote via "provisional ballot" because we all know that is a waste of time. (And by the way, someone who has visual difficulties would never in a million years be able to fill out that form.)

Given what we pay in taxes in this county, we have the right to expect elections (held at the same time every two years) to be run properly. This is a disgrace. The polls need to stay open later tonight to accomodate the citizenry. And heads need to roll.

Finally -- we need to hear whether this was an attempt to suppress votes or just plain incompetence. Or both?

"As a PS, why is it ok to vote in a church?"

Because it costs the county less money to use that facility.

It would be good if they had a second place where folks who might be offended to enter a church facility (it's not the chapel after all) to go somewhere else to vote but make it so they'd have to pick up any additional costs involved. That's certainly fair!

I voted at Cashell Elementary School at 7:30 a.m. There was no wait and there were no problems at all.

Polling Place: White Oak Middle School
Time: 8:30 AM

Worker put access card into registration machine and the machine locked. When they pulled up the card it showed I had voted bout I had not moved from the registration desk. I was forced to cast a provisional ballot, a big pain! I have to call to see if they choose to accept my provisional ballot.

I voted at 9:30 AM at Greencastle Elementary in Montgomery Co. My party identification was incorrectly listed as Independent, and I was forced to use a provisional paper ballot to vote in the Democratic primary.

Sounds like my experience was par for the course today.

Arrived around 8:15AM at the Moose Lodge on Bel Pre Road in Aspen Hill. Had no problems.

JEP: The stories imply that none of MoCo's precincts had the electronic cards when the polls opened. Demographics are not an issue considering MoCo is MD's richest county and controlled entirely by the Democrats.

We were at the polls at 6:58 - they did not open the doors to inform us of the ballot problem until 7:20. The polling officals had no idea how to use the provisional ballots. I am afriad that some ballots will be voided due to poll worker error.

Polling place South Lake Elementary

Hey all,

As if traffic weren't bad enough in MoCo and PGCo, here's yet another reason to move to Howard County! We're voting without a hitch!

I voted by provisional ballot this morning because my polling place in Silver Spring (district 18) didn't have the voting cards yet. And, I'm trusting that they will in fact count my provisional ballot vote. They were going to photocopy more provisional ballots because they were running out of those. I was lucky to be able to vote at all; I got there early. A lot of people were still in line with their #2 pencils ready.

I can't believe this is happening in the shadow of the nation's capital of the country that is purportedly spreading democracy everywhere... And I just heard the head of the board of elections on the radio (WAMU, Kojo Nnamdi show) -- very unsatisfying. Clerical error, they're doing the best they can, they've had a confusing season, hard to train all these people, etc. "Clerical error" is just not a good enough reason to have voters not be able to vote on election day, in my opinion.

Two words for the board of elections:

QUALITY CONTROL

I took my three year old son with me to vote at Highland View Elementary School in Silver Spring this morning. It was an educational experience--I was able to teach him a new word: disenfrancished!

I arrived at my polling place (Fairland Recreation Center in Burtonsville) about 7:45 this morning, and was greeted by someone exiting and telling me all the machines weren't working, there was a problem, and they were doing paper ballots. What a mess, and I feel badly for the folks working at the polling place because this was so far beyond their control. Once I got my provisional ballot (which irks me that my vote will note be counted for a week, I was told) finished, the "insult to injury" part was getting my fingers stuck in the jaws of the box while trying to shove that large piece of paper in there.

I'm hoping the person(s) responsible for this glitch aren't doing the same job for the General Election in November.

In reference to the person who wrote: "My husband had one problem-he was in their system but the poll worker's machine could not print out the record for him to sign. They still let him vote so we hope it will be counted!"...

I was not asked to sign anything! Uh oh. And they didn't ask for my id either. Also, I heard another woman in line tell her friend that according to the polling records she had already voted at 7:02 (when we now know that NO ONE had voted). All these things, plus the other problems we are hearing, make me very concerned for the accuracy of the results, especially with some very close races.

For what it's worth, I voted on the machine with no problem (and no line) at around 7:40 AM at Grace Church on New Hampshire in Silver Spring. I knew nothing of the problem until I turned on my car radio and heard the news.

I voted in Montgomery County this morning before the access cards showed up. Poll workers were very good at explaining the problem and our options and warning us that if we decide to vote provisionally, we couldn't later change our mind.

I decided to vote provisionally instead of coming back after work. Got in line and they ran out of provisional ballots. The poll workers were going to go photocopy the provisional ballot (which seemed to take forever, as it takes a while for the copier to warm up). Meanwhile, after waiting in line for about 5-10 minutes the access cards arrived. Lots of people got to vote before the photocopied provisional ballots showed up. But eventually I did get to vote.

I agree with Bill W. When I arrive William Paca at 6:45 am, we was informed their technical problem. Once we was allow in the polling place it was a totally chaos. The polling staffs appear to be unorganized due to poor training. I do not blame the working/volunteer. I blame the poll judges. Several people were unable to vote because they were not in the systems. I have been going to William Paca polling center over 17 years, never have I experience such chaos. If polling center not ready for the primary. What is going to happen in November election?

My wife and I arrived at Kensington Town Hall about 7:45 only to discover we couldn't vote. Workers were said to be photocopying paper ballots and we were told to come back later. We went back about 20 minutes later and were able to vote using the paper ballots. There were very few people in line, leading me to believe the place will be a madhouse this evening. I have some flexibility in what time I arrive for work, but not everyone does. If you punch a timeclock or work two jobs you may be out of luck -- and so, too, could be any candidates counting on your votes.

I had to wait about an hour (7:30 to 8:30) at Congregation Beth El on Old Geo. Rd. The line had been moving OK when I first got there, so I'm sure the people behind me had longer waits than I did. (Many just gave up and left.) It was a mess -- they didn't have the cards, then they had them but only a few worked. Being in such a blue county in a largely blue state, I'm not buying into any disenfranchisement conspiracy theories, but what a mess. November 7 is looking to be a complete fiasco.

Voted at 7:45 AM at the elementary school in Edgewater (south of Annapolis). No delay -- no problems. Personnel clearly were still becoming accustomed to new equipment and protocols, but doing so without incident....

I was two hours late this morning because I decided to stop in and vote in Maryland before going to work. The lines were huge, and I was shunted to from one polling site (Piney Branch Middle School) because the computer said I should be in another district. I went to Takoma Park Elementary School to wait in another extremely long line, only to have their computer tell me I couldn't vote there because I was supposed to be back at Piney Branch at my original district! I ended up casting a paper provisional ballot, but I don't have high hopes of the paper ballot actually being counted since the computer system couldn't figure out which district I should be in. The woman next to me who also finally ended up filing a paper ballot was at her third polling site - each time the computer said she should be at a different site, until like me she got to the elementary school and it told her she was supposed to vote back at her original site!

I found out after seeing the Post website later today that the extremely long lines were because the plastic voter cards had not been shipped with the machines. In the past when the Maryland election judges had paper printouts of registered voters and we used paper ballots, the only problem I ever encountered with voting was waiting in line, and I was never more than 15 minutes late for work because I chose to vote in the morning. How will our democracy work if our election process doesn't allow registered voters to cast their ballot? I have no confidence in this computerized system, it is not transparent how it works, how problems will be fixed, and is clearly prone to serious error.

Takoma Park, MD

I voted at 11 am at Westover Elementary in Colesville MD. There was no line and the polling staff was most helpful. Although the process was different, it was an improvement over the last time I voted. I was in and out in record time!

My husband and I were in line at Whitman HS to vote at 7am. The polling place fellow came out to tell us about the problem and said that we could use the paper ballots but that it would take extra time. There were 15 people in front of us so we just left. We'll be back this evening but somebody's head should roll about this.

My husband and I went to vote at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda. There was no line at 8:15, which was great. However, I was in the computer and my husband wasn't. We've been voting at the same place for three years, and now he wasn't in the computer at all. The workers said that the MVA was probably at fault because computers were being used instead of the paper cards (which we both had with us) and it seemed they didn't enter his information--okay, fine. This after three years. So my husband had to vote the provisional way and I got to use the machine. Irritating for him, easy for me.

Also, there are several deaf that live in our area (I am and my husband is as well) and there were no interpreters on hand to explain the problem. We had a hard time lipreading and did the best we could. That was frustrating. But the poll workers were very, very nice.

My husband and I voted at Woodlin Elementary School in Silver Spring at 8:30 this morning on a provisional ballot, after waiting in line for about 45 minutes. (Good thing we're dedicated.) I got the last formal ballot, and my husband voted on a photocopy of a ballot. Additionally, I overheard a poll worker asking people who didn't speak spanish to fill out the spanish envelope. "You'll figure it out," she said. My husband and I left questioning whether our votes would be counted at all.

Polling Place: Buck Lodge Middle School, Adelphi, MD 20783 (Pr. Geo. County)
Time: 7:40am
***********************************
Very bad experience. Upon arrival there was a line -- election judges were admitting only 2 people at a time to complete provisional ballots. Finally got in to vote, completed the paper ballot, and then the judges (who were helpful but confused) started to let some people vote on the machines, even though the cards (or whatever they needed to use the machines properly) had not arrived. How do I know if my paper ballot will be counted and not rejected? The judges didn't know what was going on. Was I "disenfranchised"?

I voted at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt at 9:50 AM. I had no problems at all, the volunteers were friendly and helpful, and the place was virtually empty. I was in and out in no time. I did find it interesting however that because I checked democrat that they only showed the democratic candidates. I honestly think that they should show all running because I may have wanted to vote for someone outside of my party. All in all the experience was a good one other than being bombarded with literature as I was walking up to the school to vote.

Like so many other people, we arrived early (6:45 AM) at the Wheaton Comm Ctr and we were voters #4 & 5. We had to leave by 7:45 am to get to work. No one had voted by that time. The machines were missing a component. I saw over a dozen people come and go without voting due to the tech problem.

I voted at Cresthaven Elementary School this morning - barely. No one seemed to have a clue and did not suggest that voters might want to return later on. They finally got a couple of the machines running after 45 minutes. Election judge said he was "pretty sure" my vote would be counted. What do they think this is, a PTA election? No back up plan? This really goes beyond a "clerical error", as they are trying to claim

WE SHOULD ALL BE OUTRAGED BY THE ABRIDGEMENT OF OUR BASIC RIGHTS DUE TO SEEMINGLY A TECHNOLOGICAL GLITCH. THERE SHOULD BE A PLAN IN PLACE SO THAT THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. WE REALLY DO NEED TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.

I vote at the Severna Park Library in Anne Arundel County. Voting today was an unmitigated disaster.

I arrived at 7:05 ready to vote. One side of the service desk was completely out of operation. The precinct captain was working desperately to try to keep everthing from spinning out of control. Even after I finished the process I wasn't sure I had done everything right.

I have talked to 3 or 4 people today about this issue and the scary thing is that they all commented that the process they went though at the polling places was completely differently from mine.

I am not bashing the staff. They were working as hard as they could to make things right but it was obvious that this was the first time they had been under fire.

When this kind of thing happens at the DMV people get frustrated and angry but all they really lose out on is their time. Voting on the other hand is the foundation of the Republic. That sounds trite but it is true.

Whoever is responsible for what happened today should resign. The old way worked exceedingly well why we bothered to change it is beyond me.


Patrick D. Weadon
301-688-5849
410-432-6151

In 2000 I was an election judge in a predominantly minority Prince George's neighborhood and there were no problems at all even though it was the first year for the new touch screens. The poll workers were asked to be there at 6:00 a.m. to get the machines set up, which we did, and we were ready for the voters at the scheduled opening time. I can't imagine how things could have become so disorganized since then. Sounds like some of the paid staff in the board of elections should be fired.

It looks like provisional ballots are NOT an alternate to voting electronically.

From the state board of elections website FAQ -see the last line:

"What is a Provisional Ballot?
A provisional ballot is a safeguard to ensure that an individual who asserts that he or she is registered and eligible to vote will not be prevented from voting. A provisional ballot will only be counted after the County Election Board has reviewed the provisional ballot application and determined that the individual is registered and eligible to vote. You must be eligible to receive a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot cast by a voter who was ineligible to vote provisionally may be rejected. A provisional ballot is not an alternative to the electronic voting system."

http://www.elections.state.md.us/registered_voters/election_day_faq.html

As I recall, provisional paper ballots were NOT counted in many places in the 2004 presidential election. How do we know that these will be counted? Why are they called "PROVISIONAL"? Provisional on what?

The closed primary system IS undemocratic. Thomas Jefferson HATED political parties and attempted to ban them. Unfortunately, politicians are too narrowminded to let go of the fact that just because you belong to a political party, common sense doesn't have to prevail. Both Dems and Reps should be ashamed.

Yes, I'm a registered Dem in MoCo so that my vote counts. I would be independent if I could vote in the primary.

As for my voting experience this morning, I sure hope that Dougie Duncan FIRES the people responsible. And the voters who got to sit in the 270 and beltway mess can sign the pink slip. These morons (and I hope they are reading this) certainly don't deserve a single taxpayer dollar. Incompetence reigns.

Polling Place: Silver Spring Elementary
Time 10:00am

This is my first time voting in Maryland and I was a little disappointed. First, there were four separate people with whom I had to talk before I could go to the booth. When I got to the first person behind the table, I held out my DL for her and was told, I could just tell her my name. However, my name is very unusual, so of course I had to spell it out. Now, I'm thinking "if you just look at my DL, you would know how to spell it." Next, she asked me to verify my address and date of brith. Again, if she looked at my ID, there would be no question that I am who I say I am. There was a discrepancy with my birth month (8 instead of 3), so there was some discussion about that.

Next the second man printed out some sort of slip, then asked me (again) to verify my address and birth date. Tell me why we cannot just use ID? The third woman filled out some form to make the correction of my birth month and handed me a card to insert into the machines.

If that weren't enough, I had to go through a fourth man who asked me to turn off my cell phone (Please, as if I haven't been here long enough already!), then asked me to verify my party affiliation. Out of the four, he was probably the most useful, if only to ensure that voters insert the card correctly.

I must also agree with one of the previous posters about the lack of privacy with the voting computers. There were election workers walking around and anyone could see clear as day for whom I was voting.

I'm all for secure voting, but four layers of interaction is a bit too much and too time-consuming. If the Maryland-issued driver's license is good enough for TSA, it should be good enough for Montgomery County election officials.

I was one of several people at Takoma Park's Grace United Methodist Church polling place who were told that the computer inaccurately listed us as having already voted. We were given provisional ballots and asked to fill them in at public tables, where anyone could view our ballot choices. Provisional ballots require users to fill in extensive contact information, including a driver's license number, as well as verification requests, making them considerably more time consuming than voting machines. In this way, they are an obstacle to voting, particularly for those who having trouble reading or writing.
jstern@decisionhealth.com

to Loren W, who said: "Had I known consequences in advance, I would have stayed in my former party."

Right. It might have been smart to, say, do a little research ahead of time. It's not like closed primaries are some radical new secret system.

It seems to me that they ought to just reschedule the whole thing for another day. You would think that the people running for office who had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars campaigning would demand it. This is really unacceptable and both the voters and candidates should demand a total revote. I like the idea of doing it on a Saturday when more people can participate and the schools don't have to be closed. I have no confidence that the "results" from today will accurately reflect what was in the hearts and minds of the electorate since so many votes will likely not be counted and other voters were unable to wait to vote and can't vote later in the day. We need a full explanation of how and why this happened.

I'm glad I planned to vote tonight instead of this morning (I'm not a morning person and would have been really upset if I made the extra effort to get to the voting place early and had to deal with these problems). Now, however, I'm unsure whether to bother voting at all. Now isn't that a shame!

I voted at 8:45 am at Forest Knowells ES in Silver Spring. No problems at all, and no lines. Lots and lots of volunteer campaign workers---I could hardly enter the building!

It's already been stated, but I must echo the comments of previous posters responding to the independent voters complaining about not being permitted to vote in the PARTY primary today: Why should a registered independent have the opportunity to help choose MY party's rep to the general election? You chose to be independent, so you should have no say in party representation, even if that means you don't have much impact in a Democratic county like Montgomery. Like it or not, this is a two-party system.

I voted at the Silver Spring YMCA. I arrived at 7:05 AM. We were told that the voter cards were on their way, but no one had any idea how long the wait would be. We were given provisional paper ballots, or the option to come back later. I chose to vote on the provisional ballot. But I left with a very uneasy feeling that my vote may well go uncounted. I also felt that the personal identification information that we needed to provide on the envelope containing our ballot compromised my privacy and anonymity. The election staff at my polling station was efficient and knowledgeable under difficult circumstances. But, county-wide, we need to do better than this in November.

What a disaster! At Whetstone Elementary School, voters were turned away until some guy arrived at 8 a.m.with the access cards. He was driving a car with Virginia license plates! Did he get lost on the Beltway? Voters couldn't vote until 8:15 a.m. It was even later at Whetstone Community Center across the street. Many voters had to leave because of work.

When I was leafletting for candidates in August, many of my elderly neighbors told me they were going to vote absentee ballot because they didn't trust the computers. Well, they got THAT right!

Let's go back to our old paper system. The heck with Diebold.

On rescheduling election day:
Weekend elections pose religious obstacles, so we should do a two-day election on a Sunday-Monday to try to be as inclusive as possible (or a Friday-Saturday).

I voted this afternoon with no problem at Albert Einstein HS. The poll workers appeared to have everything in order and were well organized.

I am really suprised to hear about all the problems occurring elsewhere in Montgomery County. Does the election board have a contingeny plan when problems occur? How is it possible that a polling place runs out of paper ballots? I was thinking what if we had a county-wide power outage. How would we vote then? All these are problems are inexcusable.

Polling Place: Albert Einstein HS

"A provisional ballot is not an alternative to the electronic voting system."

This means that you cannot choose to vote provisionally simply because you don't want to use the electronic system. A provisional ballot is used if there is an error in the registration system and your name, party affiliation, address, etc. cannot be confirmed. The ballot can then be cast and checked later to make sure who you say you are is correct.

In case the computer systems did not work (on a rare chance, not on the grand scale that happened this morning), the plan was to use provisional ballots. That is why there were so few.

It really wasn't a technical problem this morning, but a complete failure to have the system prepared for the day. The cards used to operate the machine and cast your ballot electronically did not make it to the polling place for whatever reason. This is ridiculous and something that should have been checked YESTERDAY!

I voted at 8:45 this morning at Tilden Middle School in Bethesda with no problem because the cards had arrived shortly before I got there.

Sorry to all those who had issues this morning. I hope they will take extra care in counting the provisional ballots due to the large number of problems this morning. And honestly, someone needs to be fired over such an outrageous mistake.

Polling Place: Greenbelt Elementary (PG)
I arrived at 7:15am and was told that they were "still setting up the machines." I waited 15 minutes and saw no progress in setting up the machines so I left. Friend who votes at Eleanor Roosevelt HS (PG) arrived at 6:45am. Doors didn't open until 7:25am and they were told that they cords for the machines hadn't arrived. Report from G'belt Elem this afternoon was no lines, but the screen listed candidates for central committee in districts other than ours.

Polling Station: Heather Hills Elementary. At 7:00am a group of people (including myself) were told tthe machines were not working and they told us that we could not vote ...didn't know when the polls would open....but yet they were closing at 8pm sharp....I asked could we manually vote and they said .....aaa...yeah?...but it would be a lot more work for them because they would have to input the votes....I said aaa duh!! Anyway they got the machines to working and I voted ....didn't have the books to mark our names off....I hope my vote counts!

I voted at the Shady Grove Conference Center just around noon. What an inconvenient location. The Center is part of the University of MD System, and classes were in full session. I could only find parking in one of the outer lots. Then I had to walk through one building, through a breezeway filled with smoking students, and into another building. The signs for the polling place were small and few and far between. When I made it to the voting area, I commented that their location was very well hidden.
There was no one else voting at the time. No one came in while I was voting or even when I left. Maybe I was the only one who didn't give up trying to get to this place.

Voted at the middle school on 36th street with no problems. The workers there are fantastic!

My only question, wasn't there supposed to be signs saying Tom Perez was no longer a candidate?

Despite Montgomery County being a Democratic-leaning area, let's remember that the Chair of the Board of Elections is a Republican (Nancy Dacek) as are a majority of the members listed on the county website. Ms. Dacek has no business in this position or any other in government if she is intrusted with this responsibility and fails.

I was very confused this AM voting in Greenbelt (Prince George's County). My understanding was that the school board elections this year offer a choice of four among many candidates running for county-wide board slots, plus district-based board candidates who, counterintuitively, would represent a district but are still elected on a county-wide basis. In other words, I had been told, I could vote in any of the school board district races, whether or not I resided in the district. Weird, but OK.

However, at the poll today, I could only vote for the county-wide board of ed candidates and for a candidate from my own board district, *not* in other district contests. To make it weirder still, the precinct official told me that in the general election I would, in fact, be able to vote for school board members running for district-based slots in all the districts, not just my own.

Why then, if school board candidates are non-partisan, can I not vote in those "other district" board races during the primary? Why, too, did someone tell me that their absentee primary ballot DID allow them to vote in board races in multiple districts? Heck, if these races are non-partisan, why is there a board of ed primary at all? I am truly confused and hoping the board of elections is less discombobulated that it appears.

Call me if you want: 301.346.6751

I am pissed. People are calling up from Mont, PG and DC talking about voting issues. I went to my polling place this morning in Fort Washington, MD and they were still setting up at 7:05. No one came to the door to tell us to come in or anything. We decided just to walk in, and when we got to the back of the hall, they were still hanging out directions on the walls and loading the electronic machines!!!

To make matters worse, they were training the workers on how to operate the registration machines. They should have been trained before today!!!! Then out of 6 electronic voter machines, only 3 of them worked. I almost lost it. I told them that I am writing letters to everyone. This is ridiculous. If you have broken machines, who's to say the machines that are working will process correctly???

One lady from Temple Hills, MD called into the Joe Madison show this morning and she said at her polling place the voting registration machines did not arrive!!!! She said a lot of people left because they did not have time to wait because of work. Then they wonder why people loose faith and don't vote. I heard in Officials in Mont. County are meeting right now to determine if they are going to extend voting hours, because the private firm they contracted to provide the electronic voting machines, didn't make it to certain locations. I am writing letters to my representatives in Prince George's County. This is a sad day in the State of Maryland and D.C. The most basic fundamental right is being obstructed because the poor lack of polling and preparation.

Polling Place: Greenbelt Community Center (PG)

I was there right at 7am and everything was running very smoothly. No problems at all!

I vote at Magruder HS. The signing in was sure different. After giving my last name, I went through a inquisition as to my street address, city and zip code and what party I am voting. I find that asking what party I vote for redundant. They should have known that I am a registered Republican.

I have no problem with the idea of closed primaries, but I was surprised to learn that you can not cast a write-in vote in Maryland at a primary. I guess it doesn't really matter since write-in candidates rarely win--and yet we have a large number of candidates running unopposed. It would not have been altogether unreasonable for someone to launch a last-minute write-in campaign for Governor, after Doug Duncan droppsed out--but you can't do it.

re: tom perez -- i got a slip from the election judge when i checked in that said that votes for tom perez would not be counted. this was at Grace Church in Silver Spring.

re: ensuring voter participation -- what we need to do is have the early voting option like we were supposed to have here in maryland until the court struck it down (or a similar system if there was some problem with that particular system). when i lived in texas we had early voting at places like malls and supermarkets and it was much more convenient for the elderly, people who can't get out of work during weekdays, etc. hopefully they'll fix whatever was wrong with the early voting system we were supposed to have, and it will be in place next year.

I arrived at my polling place in Annapolis at 7:25 a.m. and had absolutely no problems voting -- I was back in my car at 7:28 a.m. The new electronic poll books were much faster than the old paper books and the Anne Arundel County elections staff memebers seemed adequately trained and were cheery and helpful. No complaints whatsoever. The new system seems very efficient when it works. Looks like the folks in Montgomery and Prince George's counties should be taking a look at their county elections boards.

Tried to vote shortly after 7AM at Kensington Parkwood Elementary....election officials were utterly overwhelmed, but I finally got throught the line to be handed a provisional ballot. As indicated above, these have to go through a vetting process to even be counted. When will that be finsihed and who will do it?

Even worse, when I asked an election official if he could guarantee my votes would be counted he said "no" !!!!!

I left without voting. I will try again this evening, but now that I've gone through the line, will they let me actually use the elctronic machines????

Worse than a third world country...where's my blue thumb when I need it?

I voted in Laurel (PG) at the Phelps Senior Center at 9:00 with no difficulties. There were a number of employees who were helpful and few enough voters that privacy was not a problem.
However, I spoke to an election judge at a different polling place and he said they were not given any training on the equipment at all in advance. It did cause some confusion for them during set up this morning.
How on earth were the poll workers supposed to know what to do with these machines if they were denied training in advance?! I am very computer literate and have been voting for years and I needed a quick coaching session on using these machines.

I second this post - our precinct was very efficient and level-headed in a bad situation.

***

I voted at the Silver Spring YMCA. I arrived at 7:05 AM. We were told that the voter cards were on their way, but no one had any idea how long the wait would be. We were given provisional paper ballots, or the option to come back later. I chose to vote on the provisional ballot. But I left with a very uneasy feeling that my vote may well go uncounted. I also felt that the personal identification information that we needed to provide on the envelope containing our ballot compromised my privacy and anonymity. The election staff at my polling station was efficient and knowledgeable under difficult circumstances. But, county-wide, we need to do better than this in November.

Posted by: Charles | September 12, 2006 02:01 PM

I reported to Walt Whitman High School in Montgomery County at 7:10 AM, eager to exercise my franchise. As I waited in line in the hall outside the voting area, an election offical was taping to the cinder block wall long, four to five foot strips of paper, which looked like someone's grocery receipts after binge shopping at the Giant. Another citizen politely inquired about the purpose of the long strips of paper, and was informed that these strips were posted as evidence to assure the public that there were no votes recorded for any candidate on the electronic voting machines before the polls opened.

I squinted mightily at one of the strips, and sure enough there was a zero next to a name I could not read. I was sufficiently assured, and decided not to examine all one hundred plus feet of the tiny print on the paper tapes.

After a few minutes with no movement in the line, another citizen asked the same official if there was a problem. That offical replied that the "audit cards" had not been delivered, and all voters would have to cast provisional ballots, because the electronic voting machines could not be used without the "audit cards". When asked how long providsional voting might take or when the "audit cards" might arrive, the answer was an apologetic "I don't know."

Having a prior commitment, I gave up waiting, as did others, and hope that I can return in time to vote before the polls close. I take great comfort, however, in the false precision of knowing that all the elctronic voting machines, which I was prevented from using, were indeed set to zero for all candidates.

Think of the the implications for early voting programs.

re closed primary: you should have gotten a sample ballot in the mail last week which also showed what you were eligible to vote.

If you lean democratic, you should register democratic in that area as you rightly point out the primary is the real race. You know that - so register.

If you lean republican and don't like it that the democratic primary is more interesting and relevant, campaign for republicans, register republican, or move if you can't stand to be in minority.

It's not the system's fault you choose not to participate.

Open primaries lead to strategies such as the Republicans in Georgia who mounted effort to turn out Republican voters to vote against Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic primary for Senator. That's not exactly "democratic and fair" either.

Registering to vote is not/not a public thing, it doesn't make you a member of the party or obligate you to send contributions, you won't be forced to vote for that party in general election. It's not a big deal.

At 7:00am the half-dozen or so of us in the lobby of Columbia Union College in Takoma Park (our polling place) were told of the problem (no ballots, missing a printer from "the manufacturer" Diebolt). When I asked for a provisional ballot I was told that they did not have any. It will be interesting to see the final "spread" of the problem. Regardless, I keep thinking --Florida, 2000; Ohio, 2004; Maryland, 2006. Don't know that I'll have time to vote after work today, and I have that "deja-vous" feeling about this coming November.

Ugh- I showed up at 7am and there were a few people but the line was not long. The problems began when it was my turn to sign in. It turns out that the electronic voting log was unable to read the little "c" in my last name (McE...). So I would be unable to vote with the machines.

So I started to fill out the provisional ballot. The woman supervising was adamant that I had to use a pen to fill in the bubbles. Even when I pointed out to her that the paper stated "number 2 pencil only", she still insisted that the machine would be able to read the pen. Eventually she understood why I needed to use pencil on the scantron.

After I had almost finished up the provisional ballot, they had fixed the machine and I was able to vote.

They gave me two stickers =)

-It also turns out that the electronic voting log could not read last names that were seperated with a space and did not have a hyphen ex: Doe Smith as opposed to Doe-Smith.

All the new voting machines and procedures are administered by the state board of elections - not the local boards. They were asked repeatedly for tests of the system to ensure it would work and we were told "trust us" and now we see the result of it all. Linda Lamone and the entire state board of elections that instituted new voting machines and procedures with no checks or tests whatsoever should be fired immediately.

Voted at Knights of Columbus in Forest Glen this afternoon; no problems, no lines.

But I did not see a single notice about the fact that votes for Tom Perez would not be counted.

There are a lot of things that were promised by the BOE and Ct. of Appeals that are simply not being done. Big disappointment.

All these problems have proved to me why people don't vote in the first place. Why make the effort to vote when we have to wait in 30 minute lines to just have the CHANCE that our provisional vote will be counted. The polling places should not be having these problems. Was it really an unforseen problem that there were not voter cards at the polling stations this morning? Polling Judges should have planned for this.

I agree with Loren W, in that I am not registered as an "Independent" but as "Unaffiliated." Why should I not be allowed to vote in a Primary to elect the best representatives just because I am not a part of this two party system? It really discourages people as registering as Independant, Green, or Unaffiliated, which furthers the 2 party system.

Sorry forgot to add in my earlier post- I was in Crofton (Prince of Peace Annex )when I voted, they seemed to have fixed the problem by the time I left.

Also- many thanks to the people who worked the polls and tried to get to the bottom of the many problems.

My husband, daughter and I arrived at Rock Creek Forst ES at about 7:50 am. No one told us there were two lines, one to check in, one to vote. We happened to see some neighbors in line who told us about the two lines and about the provisional voting. We checked in then got in the voting line, with only about 4 people ahead of us. It then took about 20 minutes for my husband to vote. I ended up not being able to vote since I had to amuse our 2 year-old daughter for so long and by the time my husband came to relieve me, it was 8:30 and we had to get to work. I will try again tonight but am not sure I will be able to since I already checked in for the provisional ballot. We were not thrilled about student volunteers who came up to us while in line asking our party affiliation so they could give us the Tom Perez notice. Seemed like a violation of privacy and why are 11 year-olds working the polls??

Voted at Duval Sr. High School, in Lanham, Prince George's County at 8:30 this morning, no problems.
Everyone should be advised that most of the voting problems are not the result of errors from the local County Board of Elections officals, they are the fault of the contractor, Debold, who is to supply all necessary cards, ballots and machines to the local boards. This is the same contractor that supplied the similar equipment to 4 counties 2 years ago, Montgomery, Prince George's, one county on the eastern shore and one in western Maryland. Maybe supplying all the counties and Baltimore City was too much for them. This was a state contract that was approved by the Governor, Comptroller and Treasurer (The Board of Public Works). If you want to place blame, then here the three people to direct it to. One of them, the Governor along with our present President of the United States, has very close ties with the contractor. Hopefully they will get it right for the general election as this won't be the "Up South Florida".

And for all you independents, I think it's great that get to express your opinions and I wish you could do it in the primary, but I still blame Ralph Nader and the independent movement especially in Florida, for the last 6 Bush years. Those votes that Bush received in Florida (other than the ones they would count) would have made the difference. Thought you guys would have learn by.
Having freedoms and choices are great, but we "GROWN" people, like our "CHILDREN", must learn when to use when, where and how our choices wisely.

Now, now - why shouldn't 11-year-olds volunteer at the polls? I think it's a great idea to get them excited about the process early.

I was at Grace Methodist before the polls opened this morning. They still had not let anyone in by 7:05 so one lady went to the front of the line and insisted someone explain why the polls were not opened. Then a poll worker came out and explained that the cards had not arrived.

A few minutes later another poll worker told us to come in but that we would need to fill out provisional ballots by hand. We were given ballots with little or no instruction and tried to find limited table space to fill them out. When finished there was no indication where to go next. I had to ask two poll workers before one could direct me to another table for the next step.

In my second line and clutching my handwritten ballot, a poll worker came in carrying the missing cards. We were told that we could now vote on the machines. But then nobody seemed to know what to do with my completed handwritten ballot. They would tell me that they did not need it, but went ballistic when I said "I'll just take it with me then." All I wanted to know was how to dispose of it. Finally someone took it, but I have no idea what happened to it.

I was led to a machine and voted uneventfully. The machines are easy to use and intuitive but the instructions themselves are cumbersome and confusing.

When I finished, I had to search out a poll worker to give the card back to. I'm sure I could have just walked out with it if I was careless or wanted to.

And through the whole process I was never asked for a picture ID. I was asked my address and birth date, but no one checked to see an ID. I thought that was strange.

The poll workers were very nice and I do both appreciate their service and feel sorry the frustration they felt because of the poor planning on the part of officials today, but I thought the whole process was a mess and very poorly planned. It was my worst voting experience in 30 years in either VA, DC, or MD.

I can't imagine how confusing it would have been for an ESL voter or someone blind or deaf.

Terry

I didn't have any problem with voting, but after voting a poll worker was supposed to take the data card from the voter. This seems to be a recipe for vote fraud. This ocurred in Frederick county, MD. I don't know how widespread this procedure is.

I arrived at the polling place in Bethesda in Montgomery County Maryland at 7:40 am. I was about 10 people from the front of the line. I was unable to vote by 8:20 am, when I had to leave to go to work. They were 1. unable to check anyone in, 2. unable to print, 3. couldn't use provisional ballots, because the electronic cards had by then arrived, half an hour late, but the 4. electronic cards were not working either. I left at 8:20 AM without having been able to vote, after being in line for 40 minutes. I left even though the Election Judge and volunteers were saying it might be worse later in the day.

I went to my polling place in Woodmoor only to be told that I could wait for 30 minutes for a provisional ballot or come back later. Disgraceful.

Had a good time at Greenbelt Community Center despite finding out PG County had not fixed my party affiliation.

Two things though from reading these accounts above:

1) We obviously don't care enough about elections when we are now waiting for cards or machines to arrive when they should have been there before. If that's DieBold's fault, since they also obviously can't create a paper backup for their machines, DROP THEIR CONTRACT NOW AND FINE THEM and go back to the old machines or build ones we can trust;

2)now if it's the paid poll employees, either the state or county in whatever position, that dropped the ball, maybe firing would be the proper incentive for some officials to stop treating elections in this country like some throwaway event.

I know a person volunteering in Ann Arundel and they just got training one day about a week ago and a few hours last night. Oh I'm sure if the computers go down in that district, that a few hours of training will come in handy.

At the Magruder High School precinct, everything was set up and working fine when I arrived there this morning (sometime around 8:00 AM). An election judge told me that they had done all the set up last night, with the exception of last minute items that had security requirements. What is really surprising is that in previous elections, the Magruder High School polling place was always disorganized, but in this election, it's running smoothly and I was in and out in no time.

I went to vote in Kensington this morning. We were given conflicting information about how much of the provisional ballot information needed to be completed. There were still no electronic ballots at 9 when we left for work. It is unbelievable that such a widespread error could happen when we are not new in Montgomery County to electronic voting--and so many hotly contested elections are in play. With evening voting not an option, I feel disenfranchised.
As to closed primaries, it is a legacy of the 60s, when too many republican voters "crossed over" and nominated George P. Mahoney ("your home is your castle") for governor on the democratic ticket. The result was that unbiased democrats elected republican Spiro Agnew for governor, rather than a bigot who happened to be a democrat.

Polling Place: E. Silver Spring Elementary.

My husband and I showed up just before 8 to a line of folks. We were told - by other voters ahead of us - that there was some sort of problem with the electronic voting cards. When we finally got to the front of the line, about 40 minutes later, I was surprised to see only ONE computer being used to check in voters.

A woman asked me my name, DOB, party affiliation, and address. Then a slip was printed for me to sign and I had to confirm the information again. Then I was led to a voter booth. I'll agree with earlier comments that more privacy is needed - the poll worker stood next to me until I asked her leave so I could vote in privacy.

The poll workers appeared not have a 2d computer to check registrations nor did they appear to have a paper list. Paper is a pain, for sure, but in situtation where the line is very long it does ease the wait time.

I voted at Christ the King in Silver Spring about 8:30 this morning. I used the provisional ballot and all went smoothly, but slowly. The only other voters were several senior citizens who were having trouble reading the paperwork we had to fill out to get the provisional ballot. There were plenty of workers there, though, helping the seniors. I just had to wait for a place to sit down and fill out the form. The provisional ballot was easy to fill out.

I am concerned, though, in that my vote may not "count". In reality, concessions and acceptances are made based on the electronic voting. Those paper ballots don't get processed right away in all cases.

To the previous poster who asked why its acceptable to vote at a church like Christ the King. We're actually voting in a rental hall that's owned by the parish, but is used by all sorts of different people in the community. There's not religious symbolism in the hall, just a wee bit of dated furnishings. I think it'd be different and of concern if we were asked to vote in the Church itself.

I also voted in Frederick this morning (at TJ Middle School). I got there about 7:07am. All computers were working except one, which I think was caused by the person trying to operate it. I received my card and proceeded to a voting machine. A woman came up to me and asked for my slip of paper that was printed from the registration computer. I;m not sure what she wrote down (machine number? Serial number? time?) She asked me if I've used these voting machine before and I told her that I did. When I placed my card in the machine she stood there watching! I moved over to block her view and she finally walked away. I then finished up a handed the card to her. She just walked around with it. I left wondering about this process!

Regarding voting in a church, if someone isn't confortable with it, try to vote early, via absentee ballot. Just a suggestion.

Absolutely no problem this a.m. at my polling station, Wood Middle School in Rockville. Very light turn-out at the time, 9 a.m., plenty of voter cards and staff to help. Very smooth process there.

I voted at Cold Spring Elementary this morning. No lines but when the poll worker inserted my card into the new registering system, the computer terminal crashed. After about 10 or 15 minutes poll workers determined how to reboot it but, when they got back to my name, the computer had registered me as already voted. On to the provisional ballots and refiling all of my demographics. Poll workers all very polite but not sufficiently trained on the new equipment and that new equipment is clearly not sufficiently quality checked for the process.

Just to comment about the "not having to show ID thing"

Its not the law to show voter ID in Maryland (I am not sure about DC). If you are a first time voter you have to show either a state ID or a utility bill (but most of the times you will never even be asked).

I trust my local poll workers more than I trust electronic voting. Technological glitches and a fundamental lack of accountability make me yearn for earlier days when you'd pull a lever or fill out a form. I voted by provisional ballot this morning because the elctronic keycards hadn't come in yet at Einstein High in Kensington. I wish my vote were counted today (and will be profoundly saddened if not counted at all.) But I actually feel less weirded out by the provisional paper ballot than I am by the touch screen voting which is contracted out to a private company that, by definition, wants to cut costs instead of protect democracy. Also, reading these other descriptions gives me appreciation for my Einstein High poll workers who had things running relatively smoothly, showing respect for the voters along the way, despite all the curve balls. Thanks!

Go Vote if you haven't. Even with all the complaints, it felt good and it was lots of fun. You get to see or meet your neighbors and wonder why those people with all that political literature for candidates talk to each other rather than to the potential voters. Besides, it's nice to complain about something other than your job or family.

Enjoy!!

In regards to Lance K and a couple other posts about the cards. I no longer live in the area, but I did work for one of the county governments in 2002 and 2004 and took part in the training for the elections. In those years the cards were recylced. You go through the process of signing in and they issue you the card. The card is what tells the machine which ballot to show you. In the primary election the cards have to be coded depending on how you are registered. For the general election everyone in the precinct has the same ballot.

Anyhow, you put the card in and you vote. Once you submit your vote the card ejects as I recall and you turn it in. It can not be re-used unless you have the means to clear it and reprogram it, which is what the poll workers do. It doesn't record your vote, it just has the info on which ballot to show you and knows if it has been used.

If you are worried registered Democrats were trying to vote as Republicans or vice versa to influenece who the party put forth in Novemeber, they would also have to have stolen one of the devices that reset the cards and they would have to hope they were able to leave with the card each time.

**************************

I didn't have any problem with voting, but after voting a poll worker was supposed to take the data card from the voter. This seems to be a recipe for vote fraud. This ocurred in Frederick county, MD. I don't know how widespread this procedure is.

Posted by: Lance K | September 12, 2006 03:29 PM

So when do they manually count all these provisional ballots? I am sure that was not part of the game plan. If I were a candidate, I would hold off on any results until all the bubble boxes we filled out this morning have been counted. Which will likely take days, given the fact that many of them were simple photocopies and not perfectly lined up for a machine reader. What an embarassment and inexcusable disaster!

Voted this morning early before I left for work in DC. In Bethesda. No problems.

Never did receive my voting card or publications in the mail but I was in the computer! Go figure.

Continuing in my amazement at the reports from the voting front...

Voted at 10:30a at St Marks in Hyattsville. The poll workers seemed anxious about the process themselves while also eager to make sure all went well. Poll workers are the best. The experience was different but appeared to funtion properly. I didn't like the machine.

Couldn't help but wonder as I climbed back into the car why we are using such flimsy, primitive, unreliable, un-private, difficult-to-decipher voting equipment that cost over $3k each when the hot-est laptop is well built, sophisticated, reliable, can scan my thumb print, has great screen resolution and costs $1300 at Costco. Maybe we should just ask Toshiba to handle the voting machines too.

We weren't served well and need to hold those we vote for and who represent us accountable.

I hope after this election that WE exert pressure on the powers that be to change the election procedure so it is standard throughout MD. It should be absolutely private, the slight screen on the machine is totally inadequate. There should be some verification of ID (I voted for the first time in MD and was not asked for any ID whatsoever). All physcial things that can be set up the evening before without breaches in security, should be to expedite early voting. Poll volunteers should have adequate training, so they feel comfortable with emergency situations. What else?

Why does everyone assume that it was merely incompetence that led to the total meltdown in Montgomery County? Take a look at the statewide ballot for the Dems--Controller and Attorney General are both MOCO guys who are getting screwed. Blame Ehrlich. He's responsible for the Board of Elections. A disenchanted electorate in MOCO means fewer votes against him in November. Incompetence? No. Florida-2000? Ohio-2004? Do the math!

voting locations are open until 9 PM in Maryland in case you missed the story... so, try again folks!

i agree, this entire scenario is a disgrace and should never happen!

Went to vote around 2 at the neighborhood elementary school (Magnolia) in PG County.
The computer had my party listed as "unaffiliated" although I showed them my voter registration card had me correctly registered as a Democrat (which I have been for 14 years). Therefore I was ONLY able to vote for the School Board!!! WHAT!!

Before I went in, a lady came out complaining about not being able to vote. While I was there, they sent one person away and another lady that came in was having the same issue I was having.

Upon leaving, two gentleman were talking about not being able to finish voting (saying the computer booted them off.)

I had no problems voting. I voted around 7:15 a.m. at St. Matthew Presbytrian Church on Bel Pre in Aspen Hill. There was difficulty with one machine. I was very surprised to hear the news when I got to the office this morning.

Barbara - I agree it's a darn good time for reform, but there are good reasons why ID isn't required for voting. Think of it like a poll tax. IDs cost money. A tiny amount of money, yes, but to some people even a tiny amount of money is too much. I think the law on this is pretty well settled.

Who appoints the MoCo Election Board? I just heard Nancy Dacek (R) the Chair on TV and was singularly unimpressed with her understanding of both the gravity or immediacy of the voting problems today. I'm mad at the appointer and her.

My husband & I tried to vote at 8:15 this morning; at that time, they were only using provisional ballots because the cards for the machines had not arrived. I plan to go back after work; I don't trust that provisional ballots will actually be counted, and we have some important statewide races (US Senate, MD Comptroller)in which the problems in one county could skew the results of the election.

Just had to post because I'm still reeling from my experience at the polls this morning. Like some of the previous posters, I voted at Woodlin Elementary in Silver Spring. I was one of the ones who was forced to vote on a photocopied provisional ballot. I overheard a poll worker saying that the first batch of photocopied ballots they gave people left off some of the candidates (!). The one I received listed all the candidates, but split the Dem candidate list for MD House, so the candidates from Farrington through Waldstreicher were on the second page with no heading. If I hadn't known who I was voting for, I would have had no idea what those folks were running for.

FYI, you can register complaints about your polling place and/or voting experience with the Election Protection hotline, 1-866-OUR-VOTE. It's run by Election Protection, a nonpartisan coalition that works to prevent, identify, and resolve barriers to voting. They collect the complaints in one database so that the problems can be better analyzed and solved.

great tip -- thanks, Josh. I already let the Board of Elections know what happened, for whatever that's worth.

Voted this morning - same issues as others. One thing struck me. My address information had not been changed. They had to make an adjustment and were befuddled. They were very poorly trained, not knowing what codes to use, where to tap the screen, etc. At one point someone pulled out a three-inch thick binder to find the right information so they could move to the change of address screen. The poll workers had to confer for a few minutes to find it. Took 5 minutes. They were very sincere, worked very hard, but had not been prepared for this system.

The county claims to have never received the applications absentee ballots for people in my household, even though they were faxed twice.

Doesn't do much good to publish a fax number and then later claim that you have problems with that fax number.

Rocking Horse Road Station, Rockville, MD, around 11:00 AM

At check-in the electronic system voided the card as if I had already voted! The provisional vote was my only alternative.

Verification was suspect, i.e. they only ask birth date address name, etc. and no picture ID. This system could be easily manipulated by someone with adequate data on voters.

Polling place: Bethesda elementary
Time: 7:30 am and 4pm

Went to polling place at 7:30 am, and was told that the cards needed for the machines had not arrived but were hopefully going to arrive in a while. I was told I could wait around for the cards to come in, come back later to vote by machine or get a paper provisional ballot which would take longer than voting by machine. The poll workers were doing there best to keep folks informed and accomodate them as best they could.

I decided to go for the provisional and got logged into the system and went to stand in line for a paper ballot. A few minutes later they told the folks checking voters in to stop processing votoers since they were running out of paper ballots. They were completely out of Democratic ballots (what I needed), but still had Republican ballots.

A number of voters left and were very rude to the poll workers who were trying their best and certainky weren't to blame for the problem. They told us we could come back later.... I spoke to the election judge about the fact I had already been checked in as getting a provisional ballot. She said to hang on to the check in slip I had gotten and the provisional ballot application and talk to her or another election judge when I returned. I left and went to work. It was 8 am.

I returned at 4pm. The polling place was pretty empty. I was directed to the provisional ballot area. The election judge and the worker at the table wer both very apologetic and thanked me for returning. They explained that I would need to use a provisional ballot since that was the way I was checked in. I assured them that I understood and knew that it wasn't their fault. I voted, put the ballot in the envelope and handed it over to the worker.

It was a hassle, but I'm glad if it had to happen it was during the primary rather than the general election. It should help assure that things are in better shape for the November election.

Polling in District 19 at JFK was also hung up on missing cards. Luckily Glen Allen Elem. had cards and the JFK poll workers were quick thinking to get a Glen Allen to lend them 5. So voting was able to get started at 7:20, albeit slowly.

The Montgomery County Board of Elections is appointed by Governor Ehrlich, upon the recommendation of the Republican and Democratic Central Committees. The Board has a Republican majority when Maryland has a Republican governor. The President, Nancy Dacek, is Governor Ehrlich's appointee. The Montgomery County Executive does not have the power to hire or fire Board members or staff.

I was the third voter in a row to be told I had no voting record in MD at Chase House in Baltimore, even though I've voted in nearly every Primary and General election since the early 80's and even though I had a voting card with a registration date of '92 for my current residency. The polling worker said she didn't reconize me! At one point, there were more people filling out provisional ballots than using machines. This happened about 11:30 AM.

I arrived at Farmland Elementary at around 11:00 a.m. When the worker who was checking me into the system inserted the plastic card, there was a low, chiming sound that apparently indicated a fatal glitch. Judges confered and I was told that the system now had assumed I had voted. The workers were smart, good-humored and efficient;they told me this particular glitch had ocurred "just four times" since 7:00 a.m.

I quickly filled out a provisional ballot and witnessed a judge carefully put it into a big red pouch. Now, however, because of some comments I've read on this site, in addition to being appalled about the mess in polling places all over the county, I am concerned that my ballot may not be counted for as many as 10 days and perhaps may not be counted at all. Is this true?

For all these people saying "FL 2000, OH 2004, MD 2006"...who is exactly behind this conspiracy in Maryland? The incumbent in the XX House district who was third last time around? O'Malley (or Ehrlich), who wants to do...what, exactly? Bush/Rove? Who? And why?

This "conspiracy" makes absolutely no sense. It is much more reasonable to chalk it up to human error/incompetence. But reason seems to be lacking in some quarters these days.

We sure ought to go back to pen and paper--automatic audit trail, as certain as certain can be that votes will be counted, and a savings of millions of dollars in the state budget.

With all these problems, we should demand a revoting date (in at least Montgomery County) before the end of the month!

Those who were successful today should have no problem voting again. And the rest of us should not be disenfranchised!

With respect to poll workers being poorly trained, the answer is an emphatic yes. I worked as an election judge in 2002 and 2004 primaries and general elections. Every election experience was worse than the last. Processes and procedures changed at the last minute, the chief judges were reeling to try to keep up, and the rest of us tried to follow along as best we could.

With the controversy over early voting this year, I knew it would be even worse. From what I've heard, the chief judges got whole new manuals over the weekend. That's insane. No wonder the various precincts handled provisional ballots differently and the judges were poring through the manuals.

Election judges are not professionals -- they are just people volunteering to work a very long day (typically 6 a.m. to 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.) as a civic contribution. Don't blame the judges -- blame the election board that placed them in such an untenable situation.

We're hearing the provisional ballots will be counted Monday

out of curiosity - does anyone know the procedure for this mysterious "already voted" card error? has the machine registered a vote for any candidates or is it just the card is confused and needs to be reset?

I just returned from voting at Davis Library in Montgomery County. The poll workers were very supportive, committed and helpful. "Somehow" (nothing to do w/ the volunteers working the polling place I am certain) my party affiliation had been changed without my knowledge or permission. Frankly I wonder if one of the two "petitions" I signed in front of Giant on Old Georgetown Road to "just get" a proposition on a ballot were "trolling" for my voter info and used to change my affiliation. Furthermore, although I am a news hound, I must have been sleeping at the wheel. I was dismayed to learn that Diebold machines have been installed in Maryland. I won't "wax 'more' political" here, but for those enquiring minds who have to wonder what is going on, consider "Googling" on the search string "diebold vote 2004 presidential controversy." Remember, you are not paranoid if "they are really out to get you."

Just got back from voting at Key Middle School in Silver Spring. I had no problems, except for some severe indecision on the Gansler/Simms question.

What time will the Post begin to put the returns online?

I agree with this person:

WE SHOULD ALL BE OUTRAGED BY THE ABRIDGEMENT OF OUR BASIC RIGHTS DUE TO SEEMINGLY A TECHNOLOGICAL GLITCH. THERE SHOULD BE A PLAN IN PLACE SO THAT THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN. WE REALLY DO NEED TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.

He or she is right. This is a big problem for us.

I'm glad she's a Republican!

The Montgomery County Board of Elections is appointed by Governor Ehrlich, upon the recommendation of the Republican and Democratic Central Committees.

The Board has a Republican majority when Maryland has a Republican governor.

The President, Nancy Dacek, is Governor Ehrlich's appointee. The Montgomery County Executive does not have the power to hire or fire Board members or staff.

Trouble at the Polls? This is a Katrina for Montgomery County!

PR-Bethesda- I completely agree with you. The people working at the Prince of Peace in Crofton were pleasant (even when they were confused). One of the workers explained to me that they had been trained on the electronic voting logs about 10 minutes before the polls opened. They were doing there best but unfortunately just had not been trained adaquately.
I am not sure who was involved with getting the volunteers trained but I would be really interested in their thoughts on the myriad of problems some voters encountered today.

As of August 3l, there were 27l,369 registered Democrats in Montgomery County, 125,666 registered Republicans, l05,651 Independents, l,398 Green Party members, 624 Libertarians, 51 Constitution Party and 26 Reformed Party.
I believe that the elections board was asleep at the switch. As soon as they realized around 6:00 a.m. that the necessary electronic entry cards for the machines had not been delivered the the polling places, they should have called the County Executive who should have called upon the County police to deliver these cards to the polling places on an emergency basis with lights and sirens. With less chit chat and some police skit scat we could have served all our citizenry by 7:00 a.m. This is inexcusable and will hurt the state wide candidates from Montgomery County, Rales, Lichtman, Franchot and Gansler. We have never had a Montgomery resident elected on his own to statewide office (Blair Lee was elected Lieutenant Governor along with Goverenor Mandel). Our local statewide candidates needed all the votes they could get from their hometown voters.

Finally, a rational comment for Robin Ficker!

I arrived at the Christ the King Catholic Church in Silver Spring at 8:30pm to find the doors at the polling place locked.

Piece of cake. 90 seconds, tops.
Bond Mill Elementary in Laurel.

Voted this evening in Rockville (Magruder High School). Only problem was that there was this one nasty Republican judge that kept hovering over everyone's shoulder. He almost made me want to switch to the democratic party.

Quote from another comment:

-It also turns out that the electronic voting log could not read last names that were seperated with a space and did not have a hyphen ex: Doe Smith as opposed to Doe-Smith.

This means that someone did a very poor job of listing requirements for reading names and someone else did a poor job of testing the system. There is a standard list of unusual name types (names like O'Farrell and Doe Smith and tenBoom or TenBoom and so on) that should be put into the requirements and the test plan. Sheesh. This is elementary stuff.

Maybe people will now think beyond the "FEEL GOOD" candidates and vote for people that have the backbone to run and maybe fix the MOCO mess and stand up for the voting citizens of the county.

Many of the plastic encripted data cards tht are inserted into the voting machines at Potomac Elementary were defective.

Did not have a chance to check the Post earlier today; am amazed that the problem was so widespread. I vote in a very small precinct in Bethesda and of course this morning it seemed that only we were affected.

I, too, am outraged. Any other MoCo voters have concrete suggestions as to how and to whom we should be complaining??

The following is part of an e-mail I wrote to some family and friends about my experiences today.

I made my way down the street to our little polling place at about 7.30. Maryland has somewhat recently converted completely to an electronic system. I'm not a huge fan, because I think there's too much room for error and failure. And today did well to prove my opinions.

Got to the polling place and was greeted by one of the poll workers who told me that the cards needed to vote (that are placed in the machine and supposedly register your vote) had not been delivered. So, I needed to fill out a little orange application slip to vote a provisional (paper and pencil) ballot. I did so. It was slow going, because the poll workers were not familar with how to do go about this process. I got into line, which numbered only about 10 people, but was not moving at all because it turned out there was only 1 election judge qualified to help with the provisional ballot. Stood in line for a while, then was told I needed something else written on my little orange application. Go back to get that taken care of. Continue standing in line, it's still not moving. See that people around me have small printed-out 'receipts.' Go back to get one of those. Go back to line. The guy in front of me, tapping away on his Blackberry, asks one of the poll workers if it's possible to leave and come back later. After the election worker confers with several others, it's decided that we may leave and return at a later time. So, after having stood in various lines for close to a half-hour, I leave - taking my 'paper work' with me.

The story has a happy ending, however, as I was able to return during a short break in my day around lunchtime and the problems had been resolved. When I walked up to the table, showing them my paperwork, and said, "I was here this morning, but have returned", a half-dozen poll workers applauded! Because I'd already 'applied' to vote the provisional ballot, I still had to do the paper and pencil method. There was no line, though, so it didn't take me too long. Not only got my "I voted" sticker, but on the way out I was able to buy yummy baked goods from the school kids who have classes in that building and always have bake sales on election days. I hope that by the time those kids are of voting age, we will no longer have to worry about such fiascos!!

Because it's "only" a primary, I suppose I could have given up and not voted. But there are 18 people running to be Democratic candidate for Senator. One of them is married to a Latvian woman, who has accused him of raping and abusing her. Obviously, I want that idiot to get as few votes as possible, and some other - more humane and qualified candidate - to get my vote.

Even though the hours were extended, those voting after 8 p.m. were surprised to learn they could only vote with provisional ballots, which won't be counted until next week.

I was told this state of affairs was necessary because the electronic voting logs were programmed to time out at 8 p.m., and couldn't be readjusted for the additional hour.

I voted at Cashell Elementary, in Olney, where the cards were only 10 min. late this a.m.

I was one of the many overworked and barely paid (around minimum wage) volunteer election judges working the polls in Montgomery County today. I will not comment on the many problems we and the voters shared today because it would be inappropriate for me to do so while identifying myself as a poll worker. But I would like to issue an appeal to all the other concerned citizen-voters who are taking the time to write here, which is this: PLEASE VOLUNTEER! Especially if you are a Republican, Independent, Unaffiliated, Green, Libertarian or other non-Democratic Party registered voter (I myself am a Democrat). One of the issues that we *can* as individuals directly control voting in this or any other state, is to participate in trying to make the process as fair and honest as possible. Because we need to have two people at each post, such as the check in tables, each of whom must represent a different party forthe sake of bipartisanship and checks-and-balances, and because there are so many more of us Democrats than there are other voters, sometimes the number of tables etc, we can have are limited by the fact that there just aren't "matching numbers" of volunteers. Anyone registered to vote is eligible.

Yes, you will start the day at 6AM and not leave until 9PM or 10PM or later, and yes, you will be "compensated" only about $125 for your time and effort. And yes, you will have to explain and manage a system you certainly didn't design and may not approve of yourself, and yes, some voters may yell at you, but others will thank you, but most of all I can promise you that you WILL feel good about having done your civic duty to help perpetuate our democratic republic. Please join me and volunteer.

I voted in PG County at noon and had absolutely no problems. (BTW, I voted for Baker and Gansler, and for Donna Edwards rather than Al Wynn.)

(Forgot to mention: I voted at Judith Hoyer School in Cheverly.)

Polling place: Berwyn Heights Elementary School (PG County)
Time: 8:15 am

When I arrived, I was informed that the machines (which were set up) could not be accessed, so I had to fill out a provisional ballot. The election judges seemed unsure as to how to fill out the the provisional ballot application form-- fortunately the printed directions answered the stumper question on the form, asking for my "personal ID number" (turns out it's either your Driver's License number or the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number). When I finished filling out the provisional ballot itself (an experience reminiscent of taking a standardized test, with all the little balloons to fill in with a No. 2 pencil), I asked if there wasn't some sort of envelope I was supposed to put it in (you know, the secret ballot and all that). The poll workers thought that there should be, but couldn't find any, so I just left the filled-out ballot with the election judge, and joked that if I had got any of the "questions" wrong, he could just fill in the correct answers. A joke, but it was a little disturbing that the provisional ballot thing was so loosey-goosey.

Just to add to the "provisional" mess... the so-called provisional ballots aren't really provisional if they were cast tonight. They were cast by the real voters in their real polling places. There was no reason to delay counting them.

My husband went to vote this morning at Highland View Elementary in Silver Spring and was offered only a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are cumbersome and aren't even counted till a week later. Plus there's always the chance it will be thrown out on one pretext or another.

We are fortunate that he was able to return to vote later in the evening - as we live near the school. I'm sure many other would-be voters were unable to return later.

I think the public is due a complete explanation of this mess-up, and the head of the Election Board should tender her resignation.

Does Montgomery County's contract with Diebold require Diebold to pay the cost for glitches such as failure to deliver the voting cards to polling places on time? Those costs would, at very least, include the costs of overtime paid to the election workers for the extra hour worked from 8 pm to 9 pm.

The computer system that replaced the old book system was not functioning yesterday in my Calvert County precinct (Beach Elementary School). Only a handful of people were able to vote in the approximately half hour that I spent in the polling place. Several people gave up and left. I finally was given a provisional ballot. I did not want to vote by provisional ballot, but saw no other alternative as work would prevent me from getting to the polls later in the day.

My voting experience was extremely positive. I arrived at the Knights of Columbus in Silver Spring at 4:45, waited in a very short line and was promptly shown to a voting station. All the poll workers were helpful and friendly.

It was not a "glitch" -- it was a mistake and it was made in Rockville.
The harassment endured by precinct election volunteers will only make it harder to recruit for the general election. My precinct was several judges short as it was.
Before electronic voting, our precinct was over-staffed by friendly and formidable retirees. Those folks don't like computers. Who will staff the polls? That's the question the Post should be investigating...

I was at the Silver Spring Middle School (at 6:45)working for a candidate. Voters who came on time were angry and frustrated(this was a new, badly located and unmarked polling place for my precinct). After the trouble of finding it- people could not vote. There is no excuse for "forgetting" the voter access cards. The Board of Elections has one job- elections- and they can't do it, it appears. Nancy Dacek should resign today with apologies to Montgomery County.

I'm puzzled. I voted at Springbrook HS in Silver Spring yesterday morning. I was in line by 7:00, they opened the doors at at 7:06, they had plenty of the plastic cards, and everything went smoothly.

It appears that Springbrook was the only precinct that had the voting cards when the polls opened at 7:00. What did they do right? I find it hard to believe that a Silver Spring precinct would get the cards from Rockville sooner than those precincts closer to Rockville.

I, and many others, encountered a long line at Silver Srping Elementary when we arrived between 7 and 8pm, despite half the voting machines standing empty. the bottleneck? The new electronic checkin required a special printer and there was only one printer.

I saw voters turn away at the sight of the long line.

Yesterday, after standing in line for 40 minutes in the morning without having been able to vote, I returned to my Bethesda MD polling place about 6:30 pm. I expected a HUGE line, so I came armed with coffee, a book and a lawn chair. I didn't need them. There was a very short line, and everything worked properly. I talked to the Election Judge I had spoken with that morning and she said there had been MULTIPLE failures of the system and equipment. Not only had the electronic cards arrived late, but only one check-in printer had been delivered -- meaning check-ins were extremely slow, one-person-at-a-time, and that the sole printer hadn't even been working in the morning, therefore no one had been able to be checked in for quite some time. Also, once the electronic cards were delivered (half an hour after the poll opened), the machines kept overheating and shutting down. A Diebold employee had needed to come out and fix things. There had been scant training of the election workers for any of these contingencies. Lastly, the polling place was not informed by the county that the time for polling had been extended to 9 PM. It was voters standing in line who had told the Judge the news of this decision.

Unproven computer technology is brought in when tried and true paper ballots would work just fine.

Optical readouts to save time and easy hand recounts and paper trail if election results are contested. What more do you want?

The computer system is apparently too complex and unreliable for election workers, who we have to assume are not morons.

And because most people don't understand computers, were subjected to zany conspiracy theories, Republican satellites beaming data to the Diebold machines for example.

I voted in northern Prince George's County and we did not have a printout of the voter list. You had to complete a form and then judges looked you up electronically. This was totally new and the judges who greeted voters when I went were very rude about it like I was trying to break in and vote illegally without filling in a form. Nowhere was posted what you had to do, it was not how I ever voted before, give me a break.

I voted at 8:20 pm in Bethesda and I was the only voter in the room. The election officials (volunteers) were very kind and I'm sure they had a rough day. I'm going to volunteer to help in the next election(s) if they'll have me.

I went to vote in downtown Baltimore yesterday about 2pm. When I arrived at the polling station I was greeted by the usual electioneering. Personally I hate that. I already know WHO I want to vote for before I get there. Do they think we're stupid? I hate to imagine how many people use those things to vote for everyone that is mentioned in the candidate's advertisement. I think it is a voter's duty to study the issues and candidates and make informed choices. It should be a law that you must vote to be a citizen of this country, even if you just show up and vote for nobody. The thing that makes a Democracy great is the participation of the citizenry. Why do we have a law for every thing else but, Mandatory Voting and Mandatory High School graduation? The only thing that candidate material does is give me the alliances that candidates have formed and possibly cause me NOT to vote for someone because of there allegiance to a candidate I don't support. Anyway, I gave the election judge my name and she couldn't find it. So I asked her to check again, still she couldn't find it. She offered me a provisional ballot but, I refused it and wanted to find the problem, and get to use the Multi Million dollar system that WE paid for. I called the local board and was hung up on. So I spent some time enlightening the judges on the ways that the Diebold machines could be compromised. IE. The smartcard technology is easy to duplicate. Second, remote access and a lot more. Finally the second Judge found my name and I voted.

I was at the friendship heights poll from 7am until 8:30. It took about a half hour to start provisional ballots and long after that to actually get to vote. They didn't have many provisional to begin with. It was a mess and for anyone that had to get to work and could not wait around, they lost their opportunity to vote. I think this election was somewhat inaccurate because of these problems. Also, some unstable individuals from the Berliner and Leggett campaigns were yelling and throwing literature, which was a bit frightening.

I voted in the primary in Accokeek, MD which is located in southern Prince George's County. The location was the still new to us Accokeek Public Library. It was the first time this library was used for voting. The voting machines were electronic; we were given cards to use. Everything worked absolutely fine. No hassles, quick, efficient. I love these voting machines. I can read the ballot easily (without resorting to large print!. The instructions are easy to comprehend. It was a wonderful experience!

I arrived at the voting center located at the East County Municpal Building in Silver Spring and checked-in via the new computerized system. I was then told the voting machines were not working and would have to use a provisional ballot. When I asked if I could come back, I was told NO because I had already checked in. I was forced to use a Provisional Ballot which as far as I know may or may not be counted. This was a travesty and should be fully investigated. I wonder, as do many people, was this just a problem in East Montgomery County? An area that has a large minority demographic?!?!?

Queen Anne's County - 36th Election District - sub-district 7: Poll workers had not been pre- briefed or trained, apparently, as they were slow and did their best, but there was confusion (my wife and I were third and fourth in line) until about 7:10. I showed my registration card and no problem, but my wife was mis-named and had to show hers, too.

This election for Montgomery County was the equivalent of the hurricane for New Orleans. A dagger was struck at the heart of our democracy. And emergency plans were not in effect to deal with it. Where was the County Executive?
When was he notified? Our emergency first responders, the police, were not involved. Why not? How could we expect the elections officials who were probably expecting to stay at the Board of Elections to handle inquiries to make emergency deliveries to 240 precincts within one hour after the fact that the electronic data cards were not delivered was noticed? What policies are in effect to deal with such an emergency as a power outage at a polling place? The Board of Elections has two years to prepare for one day. What happens if the vehicle going from the Board of Elections to a polling place is involved in an accident? What plans does the Board of Elections have to deal with emergencies? I would like to see their manual.

Quote:

"This election for Montgomery County was the equivalent of the hurricane for New Orleans. A dagger was struck at the heart of our democracy. And emergency plans were not in effect to deal with it. "

Oh, please. I don't want folks to be disenfranchised, but I imagine the Katrina folks would gladly trade you crisises.

"Where was the County Executive? When was he notified? Our emergency first responders, the police, were not involved. Why not? How could we expect the elections officials who were probably expecting to stay at the Board of Elections to handle inquiries to make emergency deliveries to 240 precincts within one hour after the fact that the electronic data cards were not delivered was noticed?"

Our first responders were doing their jobs, not being a taxi service. Shift change is probably somewhere around that time, by the time the police would have been organized to do this, the civilians would have gotten to the sites. I do agree there should be a contigency plan for this, and there may have been one. How well it was executed is the question.

"What policies are in effect to deal with such an emergency as a power outage at a polling place? The Board of Elections has two years to prepare for one day. What happens if the vehicle going from the Board of Elections to a polling place is involved in an accident? What plans does the Board of Elections have to deal with emergencies? I would like to see their manual."

The voting machines are hooked up to UPS systems in the event of power issues. No argument they (BOE) should have a contigency plan, whther or not it is available to the public (where the potential for misuse is possible) is questionable.

Former MD resident seems pretty blah about thousands of people not being able to vote.

If the County Council can hold an emergency meeting to strike a charter amendment signed by l3,500 residents off the ballot, they can hold an emergency hearing to find out what we need to do to make ssure that the worst election day fiasco in Montgomery County history never happens again. Where was Mr. Duncan during these events?

I am concerned and troubled, especially since I used to work for the county and know many of the folks who worked the polls.

What I am bothered by is Ficker blowing the issue out of proportion especially for what I think is a lame at attempt at political gain.

And Voter, do you seriously think a few thousand folks not being able to vote is equivalent to Katrina? I want them to get to the bottom of this and get it fixed, but making comparisions like that makes those who are concerned overly shrill.

I voted at 7:30 pm, the only voter at that hour.

While I had no trouble casting my vote, the election workers noted that the system crashed 9 times during the day.

I long for the chads - hanging, pregnant or whatever. The automated system we used today leaves me uneasy about the veracity of the process.

Yes voters were disenfranchised and that is appalling but no one was physically hurt/killed/lost their homes/lost their loved ones etc.

So in my humble opinion- the katrina analogy is just too far fetched for me.

Sorry the last anonymous poster ("... So in my humble opinion- the katrina analogy is just too far fetched for me.") was me, forgot to put my name in.

I was a Check-In Judge yesterday. We didn't find out that the cards were missing until 6:00 am. While we can set up most of the polling place the night before, we are not allowed to open the voting machines until we arrive in the morning. I completely understand why people were upset about what was happening, but please remember that the people working at the poles had nothing to do with the missing cards. We did the best we could regarding provisional voting. Many places ran out of forms because normally, we do not have many provisional voters. The judges worked from 6am to after 10pm yesterday because of the extra hour for voting, in addition to the time we spent Monday night setting up. I am very proud to be an Election Judge. I don't do it for the money (which is not very much), but for the feeling I get for contributing to the process.

I'm most concerned about the instances discussed where several people were turned away for 'already voting' who hadn't voted and where machines weren't registering votes. That to me is a much larger travesty than one human error that was later rectified and did not impact the total votes.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions have lost their lives so that we would have the right to vote. This failure in Montgomery is most serious. Those that do not think so do have not studied U.S. History.

My polling place was moved this year from Grace Church Epis in Silver Spring to Silver Spring International Middle school. The address I received said the polling place was on Wayne Avenue. I parked in the Wayne Ave lot and walked into the polls at the middle school.

A worker came out and ask who was supposed to be voting at Grace Church. She then led a group of us down stairs and around several bends to ANOTHER polling set-up where the Grace Church people were to vote.

What if I had been in a wheel chair? The new polling place was poorly marked. It was not on Wayne Avenue, but on the street behind.

The polling places are a confusing mess due to all the electioneering going on. The new polling place should have been better marked.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions have lost their lives so that we would have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This failure in the Gulf Coast is most serious. Those that do not think so do have not studied U.S. History.

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions have lost their lives so that we would have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This failure on 9/11 is most serious. Those that do not think so do have not studied U.S. History.

Fun with editing.

Yes it is a serious issue and it needs to be fixed but some of these comparisons are just silly.

First of a couple letters Duncan released as press releases.

September 13, 2006
Honorable Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.
Governor of Maryland
State House
Annapolis, MD 21401

Gilles W. Burger, Chairman
Maryland State Board of Elections
151 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401

Dear Governor Ehrlich and Chairman Burger:

I have today written to our Elections Board Chairperson Nancy Dacek calling for the immediate termination of Montgomery County Elections Director Margaret Jurgensen's employment. I am also requesting, by copy of this letter, that the Governor and the State Board of Elections remove Nancy Dacek from her position as President of the Montgomery County Board of Elections.

While the Elections Director is the day-to-day administrator of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, the President of the board has the ultimate policy-making and oversight responsibility, and based on yesterday's primary election debacle, her removal is warranted as well.

I am also requesting that the State Board of Elections launch an investigation to help determine what went wrong, why it went wrong and how improvements can be made for the General Election. In fact, I am formally requesting written assurance that the State of Maryland will exercise its constitutional authority to guarantee a seamless General Election where every voter who wishes to vote is able to do so.

It is the responsibility of the State Board of Elections to ensure compliance with the requirements of Maryland and federal election laws by all persons involved in the election process. The State Board is ultimately responsible for the administration of elections in the State, and we need guarantees that what happened yesterday will not be repeated in November's General Election. Our residents need to know that their vote will be counted and that the voting process will proceed smoothly.

Sincerely,

Douglas M. Duncan
County Executive

September 13, 2006

Mrs. Nancy Dacek, President
Montgomery County Board of Elections
751 Twinbrook Parkway
Rockville, MD 20851

Dear President Dacek and Board Members:

I am writing to you today to request the immediate termination of Elections Director Margaret Jurgensen's employment. Yesterday's election debacle was nothing short of gross incompetence and something that we cannot dismiss as a "clerical error" or an "election day glitch."

We pride ourselves on good government and competent service to our residents. None of this was on display yesterday. The failure to deliver Voter Access Cards to polling places is an inexcusable failure on the part of our elections officials. This systemic failure brought to light numerous other shortcomings on the part of elections workers and judges, including a shortage of provisional ballots, turning voters away and a complete communication failure.

With the General Election less than two months away, we cannot afford to run anything short of a seamless election. It is for that reason, that steps must be taken immediately to change the leadership of the Elections Office and do all we can to restore the public's trust in the voting process here in Montgomery County.

My office stands ready and willing to assist the Board of Elections in preparing for the administration and execution of the General Election. However, the Board is ultimately responsible for ensuring that every voter is able to exercise his or her right to vote and ensuring that their votes are properly counted.

Sincerely,

Douglas M. Duncan
County Executive

The county did use non BOE resources for getting provisional ballots to the polls for the "extra" voting time.

September 12, 2006

Mrs. Nancy Dacek, President

Montgomery County Board of Elections

751 Twinbrook Parkway

Rockville, MD 20851

Dear Mrs. Dacek:

On behalf of Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, I am writing to express outrage and frustration over the series of problems that occurred this morning at County polling places. These problems ranged from delays in the delivery of Voter Access Cards to the unavailability of a sufficient number of provisional ballots. Some polls opened and then turned voters away, while others didn't open their doors on time. Efforts to determine the status of each polling place were complicated by communication failures.

I urge you to launch an immediate comprehensive investigation of this systemic failure to determine the extent of the vulnerabilities in the election processes. I also ask that you hold accountable those who are found to be responsible for this morning's failures. These failures affected voter confidence and discouraged residents from taking part in the electoral process.

When we first learned of the delays in delivering Voter Access Cards to all polling places, we recommended that the hours of the polls be extended to accommodate residents who were unable to vote this morning. We are pleased that Circuit Court Judge Eric Johnson ruled to allow an additional hour of voting. In addition, County Department of Public Works and Transportation staff is assisting the Board of Elections in distributing the provisional ballots to all voting locations in Montgomery County and we have encouraged your office to have an ample supply of provisional ballots on hand to accommodate voters between 8 and 9 p.m.

I ask that you provide us with a briefing on the results of your investigation as soon as possible, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Bruce Romer

Chief Administrative Officer

Cc: Gilles W. Burger, Chairman,

Maryland Board of Elections

The more I think about what happened on election day, the more upset I get. Every day in Montgomery County people go to jail for shoplifting, DWI, assault, and other minor criminal and traffic offenses. What took place on election day was far worse. Firing is not enough. Somebody needs to spend some time in Clarksburg.

The two counties you spoke about as having voting problems actually contain VERY high % of ILLEGAL and legal immigrants. We have a VERY serious problem with ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. Maryland has become the Mecca of ILLEGAL immigrants because Maryland is one of the FEW States that STILL hands out Drivers License to ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS and hands of tax paid benefits by the Millions of dollars. Its like Christmas for Illegal Immigrants here in Maryland and it needs to STOP. Checak our www.numbersusa.com www.grassfire.org www.protectourborder.net and help TAKE BACK AMEICA !!!!