C&Ler MrEMan was working on a Maryland State Senate campaign and gives us his impression of the poll and voter problems in Maryland's primary yest
September 12, 2006

C&Ler MrEMan was working on a Maryland State Senate campaign and gives us his impression of the poll and voter problems in Maryland's primary yesterday:

MyDD has a lot of information up on the problems in Maryland:

Let's start with what we know. This primary isn't over. And if Al Wynn hadn't cheated, he would be giving a concession speech right now. For instance, how much of his money that came in was misreported or downright illegal? We just don't know at this point. How many people were intimidated from volunteering with Donna Edwards because Wynn supporters were beating people up? We don't know....read on

Mr EMan: At the North Baltimore polling place that I worked, the day started out just as many did across the state - late. By 7:05 am, disgruntled voters began knocking on the doors, demanding to be let in. By 7:15, the knocking turned into double-fisted pounding as the dozens of people waiting in line became increasingly angered by the delays.

Finally, the doors opened twenty-five minutes late. There were more complaints of confusion and incompetence from some voters as they exited the building. At one point, I asked for an overall vote total and was given two different numbers by two different election judges. They gave each other puzzled looks and one finally looked up at me and said, "The computers aren't really syncing up very well".

So much for voter confidence.

Baltimore Sun: Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. wasted no time after learning that voters in two of the state's largest jurisdictions were having trouble voting before setting up a toll-free hot line in his office so he could compile complaints.

"We're going to demand answers," he said.

The Maryland Democratic Party and its nominee for governor, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, instead laid the blame at the feet of Ehrlich's nominees to boards of election around the state who manage elections county-by-county.

"We rely on our governor to make sure elections are administered in an orderly way," O'Malley said.

Other Democrats were even less subtle in faulting Ehrlich.

"He can't run an election just like he can't run the state," Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who lost to Ehrlich in 2002, told a reporter from WMAR-TV while leaving her polling place in Baltimore County.

Democratic Party spokesman David Paulson blamed delays in opening polls in Baltimore and some other jurisdictions on many Republican poll judges not showing up. Election officials said recruiting poll workers is a constant challenge, especially GOP workers in heavily Democratic precincts, but the problem seemed worse this year. Read on...

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