City of Frederick, Md. Election Today

George Wenschhof

On my way to pick up my coffee, an early drive by a few polling locations downtown showed the volunteers for the candidates were out in full force. Supporters of those who wish to push the recent city mayor and board decision to annex three properties to a referendum, are also out in force today.

It is a beautiful day and there is no excuse for registered Democratic and Republican voters to not mark their ballots today.

Remember, polling locations have changed. If you do not know your polling place, click here. All you do is enter your home address and click enter and your polling location will appear on the screen - easy!

As I mentioned yesterday, as of July 23, 15,385 Democrats and 10,009 Republicans are registered and historically the turnout in the Primary has fallen below 35%. In 2005, only 3,900 Democrats and 2,154 Republicans voted in the city Primary. This low turnout in a city with a population of 60,000. Go vote and prove these numbers wrong!

Stuart Harvey, Frederick County Board of Election Director will provide me with some voter turnout updates throughout the day and I will publish and update them here in this post. I will also post other interesting tidbits throughout the day and if you have any observation you wish to pass on to me, email me at georgewenschhof@gmail.com. Tonight, I will post results as I receive them.

Mr. Harvey also provided me with the total number of Absentee ballots which have been received. As of this morning a total of 250; 162 Democrats and 88 Republicans.

So, stay tuned!

Voter Turnout by Polling Location:

9:00 AM Total votes: 657 - 2.6%
11:00 AM total votes: 1253 - 5%
2:00 PM total votes: 2097 - 8.4% (1,383-D, 714-R)
4:00 PM total votes: 2878 - 11.5% (1,953-D, 925-R)

William Talley Rec Center (Precincts 1,5,11) 121 North Bentz St.
9:00 AM total votes: 268
11:00 AM total votes: 524 (379-D, 145-R)
2:00 PM total votes: 838 (594-D, 244-R)
4:00 PM total votes: 1096 (762-D, 334-R)

Frederick Church of the Nazarenne 7899 Oppossumtown Pike (Precincts 2,10)
9:00 AM total votes: 56
11:00 AM total votes: 98
2:00 PM total votes: 183 (117-D, 66-R)
4:00 PM total votes: 229 (142-D, 87-R)

Evangelical Lutheran Church (Precinct 3) 35 East Church Street
9:00 AM total votes: 64
11:00 AM total votes: 135 (106-D, 29-R)
2:00 PM total votes: 195 (150-D, 45-R)
4:00 PM total votes: 228 (174-D, 54-R)

Cornerstone Fellowship Church (Precincts 4,8,9) 66 Waverley Dr. #630
9:00 AM Total: 113
11:00 AM total: 233
2:00 PM total votes: 421 (243-D, 178-R)
4:00 PM total votes: 543 (315-D, 228-R)

Grace Community Christian Church (Precinct 6) 2100 Rosemont Ave.
9:00 AM total votes: 20
11:00 AM total votes: 34 (19-D, 15-R)
2:00 PM total votes: 60 (35-D, 25-R)
4:00 PM total votes: 79 (45-D, 34-R)

Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints (Precincts 7,12) 1811 Latham Dr.
9:00 AM total votes: 136
11:00 AM total votes: 229 (137-D, 92-R)
2:00 PM total votes: 400 (244-D, 156-R)
4:00 PM total votes: 703 (513-D, 190-R)

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4:30 PM Update: Looks like voter turnout will fall below the 25% in the 2005 city primary election. A little over 6,000 voted in that election and at 2,878 at 4:00 PM, it is unlikely the turnout will match the 2005 primary. Did a change in polling locations have an effect on turnout or did the use of Churches as polling locations have any impact on turnout will be among the many questions pundits will discuss in the following days. If you have not voted, go do so!

Low voter turnout is the compelling reason to move the city election to coincide with the presidential election. It's past time for the city to make this change.

5:45 PM Update: A look back to the city primary held on 9/11 2001 has some interesting results. A total of 2,498 Democrats voted and the breakdown of the mayoral vote was as follows: Jennifer Dougherty - 993, Meta Nash - 967, and Alan Imhoff - 548. On the Republican side, a total of 1,427 voted with James Grimes receiving 1,044 and the late Mr. Clay receiving 383 votes. Jennifer Dougherty who won the Democratic primary by 26 votes would go on to win easily in the 2001 General Election.

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