Maryland's Presidential Primary Marked by Weather Woes

Maryland's 2008 Presidential Primary Election day has arrived and the polls have closed. The attendance appeared to be low at my local polling places for several reasons. The weather the Maryland region faced on it's Primary Election Day probably played the largest role in keeping voter attendance low, but as a voter I saw several other reasons for voter apathy today. Those reasons included the fact that the Republican Presidential Candidate was for all sense and purpose decided before Maryland's Primary Election, and also that the Democratic candidates appeared to focus their attention on just two major areas of the state, and ignored the others in their campaigning.

At my local polling place attendance was very low for the primary election. Instead of the normal crowds that arrive after the work day, very few voters were there. This could be due to the ice storm the entire Maryland region west of the Chesapeake Bay was facing. Part of the reason for the low voter turnout could have been the fact that this storm was not expected to last as long as it did. Most forecasters in the area predicted any ice would be short lived and there would be no ice accumulations for much of the state as recently as Primary Election Day morning.

In reality the ice remained through the evening rush and from personal experience seemed to double to triple commute times. This played a major role in holding down the number of evening voters as many probably were running late due to major road closures, including part of U.S. Route 50 near Annapolis. Many who were delayed likely chose to skip voting or arrived home too late to vote. The state did try to increase voter turnout by keeping polls open one and half hours later than orginally planned, but reports from friends and neighbors indicated that very few people were voting during these extended hours.

For those that were home, there wasn't a lot to draw them out to the polls in Maryland. The republican party had their candidate in John McCain decided before the doors of voting places ever opened for the Maryland Primary. The issue voters might have had with the Democratic Party's candidates involved alienation. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton spent Monday campaigning in two large population centers of the state. Both made appearances close to the University of Maryland campus and downtown Baltimore. They did not make appearances in other large cities throughout the state which may have resulted in voters in those areas feeling as if their vote didn't count.

So, whether it was the weather, traffic, timing of the primary in the primary schedule, or the candidates choices for campaign stops, it was clear from my visit to my election polling location that attendance was down this year. This was clearly evidenced when there was a total of 5 people in the polling place when I arrived. In past primaries you had to wait at least twenty minutes in line to vote. From my personal experience it was clear the state of Maryland was not motivated to show up in force for this year's Presidential Primary Election.