Independents: You Can Vote, Too! The Question: Will They Be Counted?

This morning voting stations were facing several dilemmas. One of the major ones: Independents were turning out to exercise their right to vote.

In St. Mary’s County, in particular, the three-way race for circuit court judge could be determined in the primaries and consequently never make it to the general election, which is the only forum where independent voters can select their candidates. The candidate elected – possibly by this evening – will serve a whopping 15 years before another election for that seat.

According to staff at local voting booths several independents came out already today and asked to vote in the judge race. “Maryland has a policy of not turning residents who want to vote away from the polls,” said one official. The individuals who have not been “turned away” include those with absentee ballots, who are told they can mail them today, and those who are allocated to different voting stations but cannot reach them. “We are letting people not registered here cast provisional ballots, and this evening we will check that they haven’t voted electronically elsewhere, and then their provisional ballot will be counted,” said one of the staff stationed at the booth in Ridge Volunteer Fire Department.

Most significantly, several formerly independent voters have already been allowed to change their affiliation to either Republican or Democrat and cast their votes on provisional ballots. “What we’re not sure of is whether those ballots will be counted,” one election official told The Bay Net. “The elections board will have to make that decision tonight.”

What is clear is that if those provisional ballots are not counted or not, there could be legal challenges arising from the judge’s race. If the provisional ballots are not counted, and a candidate for judge wins outright today, then many will have reason to complain that their vote was disregarded. Similarly, if those ballots are counted then there could also be grounds for a legal challenge.

Today, many independent voters, who have expressed their dismay at being disenfranchised when it comes to the election of an important 15 year position, feel they have nothing to lose by casting provisional votes. If they are counted then their voices will be heard, and if not, well the protest will be a symbolic one – and perhaps, later, a legal one.

Another county making a last minute appeal to the State Board of Elections is Montgomery. They have requested a two hour extension to the voting hours due to the late arrival of ballots today. Maryland is able to make such a decision on a county basis, and so, if Montgomery is permitted to keep its voting booths open longer, it will not affect the scheduled times of other counties.