Charles voters cast ballots with an air of enthusiasm over relevant primary

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama took the lion's share of votes in Charles County in the ice-marred election, with U.S. Sen. John McCain coming out on top on the GOP side. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) and Republican Charles County Board of Education member Collins Bailey will face each other for Hoyer's seat in the Nov. 4 general election.

Obama (D-Ill.) beat Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) 13,952 to 6,666 votes - 65 percent to 31 percent - in Charles, according to figures from the Charles County Board of Elections Web site.

McCain (R-Ariz.) beat former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee 4,651 to 2,594 votes - 57 percent to 32 percent - in Charles.

In the 5th District race for U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer's House seat, Hoyer, as expected, thrashed Democratic challenger James P. Cusick of Leonardtown 82 percent to 18 in Charles. On the GOP side of the ledger, Bailey won the right to fight Hoyer for the seat in the Nov. 4 general election, winning 3,850 votes to 1,430 - 59 percent to 22 percent in Charles - for the other GOP challenger, Mike Hethmon of Croom. Jesse James Dann of Calvert County withdrew from the race a couple weeks before it was contested. He earned 1,203 votes, 19 percent in Charles. His votes will not count.

Immigration, health care and a good old-fashioned need for a change topped the reasons why voters said they turned up at the polls during Tuesday's primary election.

The early turnout was especially brisk for a primary election, said Tracy Dickerson, director of the Charles County Board of Elections in La Plata.

‘‘A lot of the precincts had lines at the door at 7 a.m.,” she said Tuesday. ‘‘That's very unusual for a primary. When things weren't settled on the Democratic side after Super Tuesday I knew that it would be busy.”

Some 29,618 voters turned out to cast their ballots, 46 percent of the 83,588 registered voters in the county.

In the 2004 presidential primary election, voter turnout was 21 percent of registered voters, Dickerson said.

There were a lot of unaffiliated voters who turned up at the polls despite the fact that Maryland's primary is closed, meaning only Republicans or Democrats are allowed to cast a ballot, Dickerson said.

‘‘We don't turn people away so we gave them provisional ballots even though they can't be counted,” she said at 2 p.m. ‘‘We've gotten a lot of provisional votes. We're deploying more provisional ballots to precincts right now.”

Several polling places in Waldorf were fairly quiet around noon Tuesday, including St. Peter's School and Benjamin Stoddert Middle School in St. Charles.

‘‘There's been a nice steady trickle of voters since we opened,” said Chief Election Judge Kelly Kintner while taking a break at Stoddert around noon. ‘‘We'll have a really dead moment, then it will get real busy.”

Chief Election Judge Lane Coyle said this primary does not seem to be too much busier than past presidential primaries.

‘‘It actually seemed to be a little less of a turnout to me,” she said.

Turnout at St. Peter's School was also somewhat light around noon.

‘‘It's been nice and steady,” said Linda Rollins, chief election judge, adding there were about 80 voters an hour turning up to cast their ballots throughout the morning. ‘‘For a primary, I think that's a good turnout.”

‘‘It's been consistent,” said Deborah Croan, chief election judge at St. Peter's. ‘‘I think the turnout has been higher than normal for a primary. People seem to be really excited about coming in here and voting. We've had a lot of new voters.”

Rollins said between five and six unaffiliated voters had turned in provisional ballots at St. Peter's by noon Tuesday.

‘‘People just don't understand the process,” Croan said. ‘‘They're shocked when we tell them that they can't vote in the primary election if they're unaffiliated.”

Voters voiced a variety of reasons why they took the time to turn up at the polls Tuesday. Probably the most universal reason was the sentiment that it is really time for a change in politics in Washington, D.C.

‘‘I voted for someone who I feel will make a difference in America today,” said Andre Boston after casting his ballot at Stoddert. ‘‘I know a lot of people who don't want to vote, but I want to make a difference.”

‘‘I'm out here today because voting is a privilege,” said Jed Alban. ‘‘You can't complain about the job that people are doing if you don't cast your vote for or against them.”

‘‘Hopefully, this election will bring about a change that we needed a long time ago,” said Sheree Ebron. ‘‘I'm voting for a change because it needs to happen. I'm a female and a minority so this is a tough call for me. I fight for women's rights, but I fight for African-American rights, too.”

‘‘The big issue for me is immigration,” said David Michaud after voting at St. Peter's. ‘‘That's one of the things that no one seems to be doing anything about.”