▼

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Bethesda loses early voting site - and leaders aren't happy about it

Montgomery County's Board of Elections voted yesterday to strip Bethesda of its potential early voting site in 2016. Past sites Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center and the Jane Lawton Community Center are not on the final list of places Bethesda or Chevy Chase voters might cast early ballots in 2016.

The vote came up at last night's Western Montgomery County Citzens Advisory Board meeting in Bethesda. Board member Jordan Cooper recalled early voting turnout being light at the Lawton Center in 2014. Others on the board were concerned at the loss.

Ultimately, the board voted last night to send the Board of Elections a strong letter to "express dismay" at the decision. The WMCCAB is appointed by the County Executive and approved by the County Council, and represents residents, non-profits and businesses.
at

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:14 AM

    Amazing that two sites that are hidden from the main drags of Bethesda aren't great at attracting early voters.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous7:25 AM

    Looks like Hogan is trying to game the elections. Makes his talk about gerrymandering sound hollow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:04 AM

    Not Hogan directly, but the MD Republican Party, yes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9:56 AM

    Notice how Dyer doesn't mention that the Board of Elections is Republican-controlled, and that the vote was clearly split along party lines.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous10:57 AM

    @9:56 AM - The Board of Elections President for each county is selected by the Governor. It has always been that way as it is the current law. So of course it will be controlled by whichever party is ruling the state.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous11:48 AM

    @10:57, yes, correct. The point was it wasn't noted in the blog post.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous5:11 AM

    I am not familiar with the Party demographics surrounding the Lawton or Regional Services Centers, but with regard to these comments (and at risk of sounding highly naive here), Ought not the goal of both parties be to create as unbiased and accessible voting process for the entire voting population?

    I have worked in an elections department. The primary goal was to ensure voting access for all sectors of the population, and for this reason, there have been times when a site with lower turnout numbers is selected. ex. a community of senior citizens.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous7:35 PM

    Not good, MoCo. Where is the nearest site to the Bethesda area?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:17 AM

    I early-voted at Lawton last election. Was the only voter in the place the whole time I was there--only me, the judges, and the campaigners outside. If another location will garner more interest/participation, then shame on us. We deserve to lose it.

    ReplyDelete