By David Noss
SOUTHERN MARYLAND – Voting in Maryland is well underway with relatively few known problems as of 6:30 p.m. tonight.
In St. Mary’s County, voter turnout at the polls was approximately 30% as of 3 p.m. The Election Board Supervisor reported that one voting machine in Great Mills was taken off-line and shutdown due to technical issues.
Calvert reports a 31.33% turnout at the polls as of 3 p.m. They have not had any reported voting machine problems.
Charles County is reporting long lines at many precincts. They are estimating that as of 6:30 p.m. this evening, they have a 40-45% turnout at the polls. They have not had any reported voting machine problems.
Problems are being reported in Prince Georges County and Baltimore City with machine capacity problems according to Andy Rivera of the Advancement Project—a national civil rights organization. Due to the length of the ballots this election, Rivera reports that many voters are taking 10-15 minutes to complete the voting process. This is causing an availability problem with the access cards that are required to vote.
Rivera said that the NAACP and the ACLU are calling on the election boards to bring in their reserve machines to alleviate the problems.