Laurel Referendum Results Are In

Despite claims from a vocal group of protesters that a single polling place for a Laurel referendum Tuesday was racially biased and could not accommodate the city's more than 13,000 registered voters, the city saw only 827 people turn out to vote -- about 6 percent.

In the end, voters chose: to institute early voting in city elections; to move election day to November in odd-numbered years; and to extend the terms of the mayor and city council to accommodate the change of election date. Residents voted against pay raises for the mayor and city council and against changing the city council members' terms from two to four years. One measure -- whether to institute voting for city officials by ward -- remains too close to call because of outstanding absentee votes, said the city's clerk, Kimberley A. Rau. (Voting statistics below).

No word from the protesters yet on whether any residents had difficulty getting to the polls.