Early voting—just like Election Day voting

By 1 p.m. on Friday, an estimated 75 people had voted at the early voting center at St. Brigid’s parish hall at East and Dillon in Canton, and the candidates handing out literature had pulled out the lawn chairs.

Of course, most of the Eastside heads for Ocean City for the Labor Day holiday, so there might have been only 75 people left in the neighborhood at 1 p.m.

Quite a few people at the Guide’s recent 46th District candidates forum expressed their doubts about Early Voting—would it count? Why can’t people just get to the polls on Election Day? Won’t there be a lot of fraud? What is this all about anyway?

The answer is, early voting is just like Election Day voting. I know. I tried it. The only difference is you are more likely to meet the candidate himself at the Early Voting poll than one of his volunteers. After all, if a candidate wants to meet likely voters and there is only one poll to cover, why not do it himself?

Voting at St. Brigid’s was just like voting at my regular poll. I walked in, introduced myself, confirmed my address, signed the receipt for the vote recording card and was shown to a machine by an election judge. I pushed the little check boxes on the touch screen, scrolled through the lists of candidates, made my choices and submitted my vote.

There was absolutely no line, and the whole process took me less than five minutes.

So—some responses to some voters’ reservations about Early Voting, based on my experience:

Does it count? Yes, just like an Election Day vote counts. It’s the same procedure.

Why can’t people just go to the polls on Election Day? Peoples’ jobs sometimes get in the way. So do travel schedules, sick kids and other pressures. I have missed a couple of elections—largely because I was covering the election.

Won’t there be a lot of fraud? No more than on Election Day. It’s the same procedure.

What is this all about anyway? It’s about getting the vote percentage up. In years when there is no hot Presidential election, the turnout in Maryland is pretty darned bad. For the 2002 primary, it was 30.76 percent. In 1998, it was 28.64. In 1994, 39.57.  The theory is if voting is more convenient then more voters will vote. We’ll see.

I had only one problem with Early Voting. It’s lonely. I enjoy the camaraderie of Election Day, talking to poll volunteers, chatting with my neighbors at the polls. I think Election Day is a magnificent civic exercise and I enjoy it. On the other hand, there was no line and the judges were happy to chat. They were getting lonely too.

By JACQUELINE WATTS editor@baltimoreguide.com

The Baltimore Guide welcomes its new Publisher, (Ed Hoffman,) ehoffman (at) baltimoreguide (dot) com a community newspaperman with nearly 40 years of experience in newspapers and magazines.

Ed Hoffman

Hoffman served as an advertising manager, general manager, group manager and publisher for 22 years with Chesapeake Publishing, a Maryland company that owns and operates 18 daily and weekly newspapers with combined readership of nearly one million.

“It’s wonderful to be working in Baltimore again. My wife and I grew up here and raised our children on the Eastern Shore,” Hoffman says. “My career has moved me around the Mid-Atlantic but now I feel I am home again. I am eager to get reacquainted with the fine neighborhoods the Guide serves.”

Hoffman was born in Baltimore and graduated from Lansdowne High School.

He later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, while also working as a cashier at an A&P grocery store in the city.

He was a member of UMBC’s first graduating class.

His wife, Margaret, grew up in West Baltimore. They now live in Elkton, where Ed likes to play golf and garden in his off-time. He is a weather enthusiast, with a weather station in his back yard that he monitors daily. His weather blog, “Ed’s Elkton Weather,” can be seen on Weather Underground, www.wunderground.com. He also blogs about city weather and conditions in The Baltimore Guide.

Everywhere Hoffman has worked—he moved to three different towns while at Chesapeake Publishing—he has become active in community groups.

His past affiliations include the Queen Anne’s County Chamber of Commerce, Kent Island Rotary Club, president of the Richmond County, Va., Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Warsaw, Va., and the board of the Virginia Press Association.

“I am exchted to be the publisher of a newspaper that is such a great Baltimore tradition. I am devoted to continuing the strong commitment to our longtime readers and advertisers,” he says. “We will produce a newspaper and online product that appeals to many new readers and advertising clients as well.”

—by Jacqueline Watts
(editor@baltimoreguide.com) editor (at) baltimoreguide (dot) com