(April 21, 2016) Early voting continues through today, Thursday, at Gull Creek in Berlin, until 8 p.m.
On Tuesday, polls will be open throughout the state for the 2016 Presidential primary.
Voting opened on Thursday, April 14. As of Monday, volunteers from both parties said turnout appeared to be light.
Carol Frazier, vice chairwoman of the Republican Central Committee and a member of Republican Women of Worcester County, said turnout, during primary elections, was traditionally around 18-20 percent in the county.
“When you spread it over eight days, plus a primary day, it’s just a trickle, basically,” she said. “I was here for three hours here yesterday and I think maybe 15 people voted.”
Frazier admitted the low participation was a little confounding, given the apparent intensity of interest, nationally.
“I think in other areas of the country, turnout is high. I can’t really put my finger on why it is not here,” she said. “The Eastern Shore is kind of different – it’s the best place in the world and I wouldn’t want to live any place different, but we don’t always follow along with everybody else, which is a good thing. But I just don’t see the level on interest here.”
On the Democratic side, Lanny Hickman, treasurer of the Democratic Central Committee of Worcester County, agreed turnout was slow.
“We have no way of predicting or expecting, but it’s probably reflective of the whole concept of turnouts, because we’ve had slow turnout in the last few elections,” he said.
Still, Hickman said there were some encouraging signs for the Democrats.
“The counts are lower, but the counts are pretty much equal for each party,” he said. “Last year, that wasn’t the case – Republicans had much greater turnout than the Democrats.”
As to whether that trend would carry over into the general election, Hickman said he had no idea.
Inside, Elections Supervisor Patty Jackson said just 135 people had voted as of Monday, at 2:30 p.m. That was in line with numbers last week, including 189 on Sunday and 156 on Saturday.
Jackson blamed good weather for the slow-going vote, and said that could change on Tuesday, April 26, the official primary election day, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For a full list of voting locations, visit www.co.worcester.md.us/sites/default/files/2016-Polling-Locations.pdf.
On Tuesday, polls will be open throughout the state for the 2016 Presidential primary.
Voting opened on Thursday, April 14. As of Monday, volunteers from both parties said turnout appeared to be light.
Carol Frazier, vice chairwoman of the Republican Central Committee and a member of Republican Women of Worcester County, said turnout, during primary elections, was traditionally around 18-20 percent in the county.
“When you spread it over eight days, plus a primary day, it’s just a trickle, basically,” she said. “I was here for three hours here yesterday and I think maybe 15 people voted.”
Frazier admitted the low participation was a little confounding, given the apparent intensity of interest, nationally.
“I think in other areas of the country, turnout is high. I can’t really put my finger on why it is not here,” she said. “The Eastern Shore is kind of different – it’s the best place in the world and I wouldn’t want to live any place different, but we don’t always follow along with everybody else, which is a good thing. But I just don’t see the level on interest here.”
On the Democratic side, Lanny Hickman, treasurer of the Democratic Central Committee of Worcester County, agreed turnout was slow.
“We have no way of predicting or expecting, but it’s probably reflective of the whole concept of turnouts, because we’ve had slow turnout in the last few elections,” he said.
Still, Hickman said there were some encouraging signs for the Democrats.
“The counts are lower, but the counts are pretty much equal for each party,” he said. “Last year, that wasn’t the case – Republicans had much greater turnout than the Democrats.”
As to whether that trend would carry over into the general election, Hickman said he had no idea.
Inside, Elections Supervisor Patty Jackson said just 135 people had voted as of Monday, at 2:30 p.m. That was in line with numbers last week, including 189 on Sunday and 156 on Saturday.
Jackson blamed good weather for the slow-going vote, and said that could change on Tuesday, April 26, the official primary election day, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For a full list of voting locations, visit www.co.worcester.md.us/sites/default/files/2016-Polling-Locations.pdf.