Harford County joins the rest of the nation Tuesday in participating in the 2012 Presidential General Election – having a hand in selecting the President of the United States of America, but also voting on several historic state issues and local county charter changes.
In addition to the Presidency, voters Tuesday will also have a chance to punch in (electronically) their support for members of the U.S. Senate, Congressional Representative, judges of various courts, and weigh in on a series of constitutional amendments and referendum petitions dealing with Congressional redistricting, tuition for undocumented immigrants, the Civil Marriage Protection Act, expansion of gambling and casinos – as well as a handful of local Harford County Charter Amendments regarding vacancy of the county executive seat, post-council employment, and public notification of government meetings.
In Harford County, the polls are open on Election Day from 7am to 8pm and there are 169,546 citizens who are eligible to cast a vote – including 67,508 Democrats, 70,769 Republicans, and 29,037 who have declined affiliation.
For all intents and purposes, the Presidential race is between Democratic incumbent Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, although don’t be shocked to see that there is a woman on the ballot (the Green Party ticket includes Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala) or a mythological entity (official Independent write-in candidate Santa Claus).
If you need some last-minute advice on the 14 or so questions on the ballot, here is how the Republican Central Committee thinks you should vote and here is how the Democratic Central Committee recommends voting.
The Harford County Board of Elections offers the following tips for Election Day:
– You can bring any printed material – including a marked up specimen ballot – to the voting station with you.
– Find time to review the three state Constitutional amendments, three state referendums, one state question, and seven county charter amendments before heading to the polls.
– Remember that election workers are nonpartisan and, while they can explain how to mark a ballot or operate a machine, they cannot assistin making a decision or explaining questions, amendments or referendums.
– Historically, the best time to avoid delays is to vote between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
You can find your districts and polling place here and a Guide to Understanding 2012 Harford Ballot Questions here
Sample Ballots for 2012 Presidential General Election can be viewed here.
You can check unofficial election night results here and stay tuned to The Dagger for updates and information as the day progresses. As always, let us know what you’re seeing and hearing out there. Long lines? Blatant electioneering? Eleventh-hour robo-calls? Tell us about it.
I voted earlier today at the Joppa Magnolia Fire station. Voting was brisk with hundreds having voted by 9:00 am. I spoke to one of my neighbors who is a longtime elections official and he told me that the line led from the door down the staircase and out the building entrance before the poll even opened. He said he had never seen that on any prior election day.
I was at the Abingdon Fire Hall around 10:30 am and there was no line. Please vote everyone!
Yes Please vote. If you are still undecided, I encourage you to do some real research(not just listen to the last talking head your heard) before you go vote next Thursday.
Did I read you right? We can vote Next Thursday!
Yes, only if the person you voted for the first time didn’t win. It’s part of the new gerrymandering process. Losers supporters get two votes and then a recount.
From polling places in Bel Air/Abingdon, visited between 2 – 3 pm
Wakefield Elementary School: Busy since the morning, according to poll workers. “People are pissed off”, an election judge said when asked about the high turnout.
St. Mary’s Church: Lines out the door in the morning, a steady stream all day. Turnout was about 50% by mid-afternoon, according to an election judge there.
Patterson Mill Middle/High School: Busy since morning; turnout was at 35% by afternoon. Election judge trainer Maggie Mundle said Harford Board of Elections was expecting 85% turnout countywide by the day’s end.
I visited 4 precincts around 3:00 p.m. Turnout seemed like it was high. I waited in line to vote for the first time.
I checked the numbers and we have an interesting story. Some precincts have already exceeded their totals for the entire day in the 2010 gubernatorial election with about 40% of time remaining. Compared to the 2008 presidential election, however, we are on pace for 10% lower turnout. That doesn’t count early voting, so we are looking at an exceptional year.
The Harford Board of Elections just announced that 57,641 voters cast ballots in early voting. That is approximately 37% of active voters in Harford County. With about 53% of voters going to the polls by 3:00 p.m. today based on 2008 numbers, and not yet taking into account absentee voters, we are looking at a banner year.
With 1 of 79 precincts reporting, Harford County is against gay marriage, expanded gambling, and the Dream Act.
Still with just 1 of 79 precincts reporting in Harford County, Romney has 51.15%, Cardin has 43.76%, Harris has 62.63%, and Ruppersburger has 65.84%.
Harford County voters, again with just 1 of 79 precincts reporting, are currently in favor of every local Charter Amendment EXCEPT Question B – allowing county council members to apply for employment with county government after leaving office.
Having reviewed the numbers, it appears 17 thousand, and not 57 thousand early voted. That makes a lot more sense.
With 1 of 1,848 state precincts reporting, Marylanders are voting 65.28% in favor of the Dream Act, 53.5% in favor of gay marriage, and 50.88% AGAINST expanded gambling.
With 86 of the state’s 1,848 precincts reporting, Ruppersburger is ahead of Jacobs in the District 2 Congressional race, 76.81% to 21.09%.
No surprise here. She had no shot anyway. Question is why did she run? Rumor is she might run for county executive and her congressional race was just to boost her name recognition and build up a campaign war chest for use in her next race.
With 13 of 79 precincts reporting, roughly 16.5% of all ballots in Harford County, Romney has 19,183 votes (58.56%) to Obama’s 12,866 votes (39.27%).
With 22 of 79 precincts reporting (more than 27%), it’s become clear that Harford County is supporting Questions 1, 2, 3, and 5; and is strongly against Questions 4, 6, and 7.
Statewide, every ballot question is passing, although Question 6 (gay marriage) has 434,721 in favor (51.4%) and 411,716 against (48.6%) and Question 7 (expanded slots) has 435,295 in favor (50.8%) and 421,128 against (49.2%).
More than half the votes in Harford County have now been tallied (40 of 79 precincts) and the only result to shift is the vote for Charter Amendment Question B. Voters now SUPPORT Question B (allowing county council members to apply for employment with county government after leaving office) with 31,345 (51.52%) in favor and 29,500 (48.48%) opposed.
Congressional results thus far (with 592 of 1,848 precincts reporting statewide): Congress 1 – Harris (over Rosen), Congress 2 – Ruppersberger (over Jacobs), Congress 3 – Sarbanes (over Knowles), Congress 4 – Edwards (over Loudon), Congress 5 – Hoyer (over O’Donnell), Congress 6 – Delany (over Bartlett), Congress 7 – Cummings (over Mirabile), Congress 8 – Van Hollen (over Timmerman).
In 2008, Harford County overwhelmingly supported McCain with 71,751 votes (58.19%) to Obama’s 48,552 votes (39.38%). With only 10 precincts left to be counted in the 2012 election, 65,774 Harford County residents (59.87%) have voted for Romney and 41,206 (37.51%) for Obama.
Can we please dismantle the electoral college now?
It work out just find for me.