How, When, & Where to Vote

Make Sure You Are Registered

Before you can vote, you must be registered.  Registration is easy!  There are three ways to register: 1) visit your local elections board office; 2) download a registration form and mail it in; or 3) register when you obtain or renew your driver's license at an MVA office.  The state election board has registration instructions no matter what your circumstances:

There are deadlines to register! You must register before 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 22, 2006 in order to vote in the Primary Election on September 12.  In order to vote in the General Election on November 7, you must register before 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 17, 2006.

If you have not voted in a few years, or you have moved since you last voted, please take a few moments to make sure that you are still registered and that your information is correct. There have been problems in other states in recent years where voters have been aggressively removed from the rolls.  In many cases, people were wrongly removed and were not made aware of it until they tried to vote.

You can easily check your voter registration status on-line.  Just go to this webpage and enter your name, zip code and date of birth.  The system will list your registration information and status.  It will also tell you where you are to report to vote.  This service is provided by the Maryland Voter Information Clearinghouse which is a project of the University of Maryland.

Who is Running and Who Should I Vote For?

Who is running is easy.  We have compiled a list of offices that will appear on this year's ballot and the names of the candidates who have filed and been approved to appear on the ballot.  Some offices are at the state and federal level.  Other offices apply only to the county in which you live:  Calvert, Charles, or St. Mary's.

Who to vote for? That's the million dollar question.  There are a lot of offices on the ballot and each office typically has more than one choice–although some candidates run unopposed.

Some people might elect to vote for the candidate's that belong to their party, e.g. Democratic, Republican, etc.  Others might prefer to research each candidate and vote for the ones who hold the same philosophy and values that they do.  There are many ways to research candidates. Following are a few suggestions:

• Visit the candidate's website.  This information is rarely impartial, but it is a good starting point to learn about their background and beliefs.
• Attend local candidate forums that are usually sponsored by local political clubs or the League of Women Voters.  Just seeing and hearing the candidate and how they interact with their opponents can be invaluable.  Videos of the event are often rebroadcast on the local cable access channel.  Check the Election Calendar for events in your area.
• Talk to friends and family.  This is also a good opportunity to encourage everyone to vote.  Despite what some naysayers think, every vote does count.
• Research the candidate's voting record if they are the incumbent.  See if they voted for or against the issues that are important to you. Voting records are typically only available for the higher offices.  We've included links to good tools on our research page.
• See who is contributing to the candidate's campaign.  If you are someone who opposes corporate influence over the political process, refrain from voting from the candidate who receives most of his money from big business or vice versa.

We have also provided a research page with links to a wealth of other sites that will help you research the various candidates and political parties.

Finally, if you are still unsure of who to vote for, some people subscribe to the throw the bums out philosophy.  If you are generally unhappy with the state of affairs, vote against the current incumbent.  If you are generally happy, vote for the incumbent. The turnover rate for incumbents is generally very low.

Early Voting

This is the first year that Marylanders will be able to vote early.  Early voting begins on Tuesday, Oct 31 through Saturday, Nov 4 at select locations.  This change in the voting laws has been hailed as a triumph for working men and women who will no longer have to take off from work in order to go vote.  Note: Early voting was struck down as unconstitutional by a Maryland court.  This ruling was upheld by the Maryland Court of Appeals on Friday, August 25, 2006. According to the Baltimore Sun, "Lawyers -- one of whom has ties to the Republican Party -- filed a lawsuit to overturn the practice, arguing in part that the state constitution specifies that voting be held on one day, not several."

Voting on Election Day

The General Election day is still the Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November, which falls on the 7th this year.  Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Voters who are present at the poll by 8:00 p.m. are entitled to vote regardless of how many people are ahead of you in line.

You must report to the polling place for your precinct in order to cast your votes.  Your precinct should be noted on your voter registration card.  If you are unsure which precinct you live in and where you would report to vote, you can find out on-line.  Just go to this webpage and enter your name, zip code and date of birth.  The system will list your registration information and status.  It will also tell you where you are to report to vote.  This service is provided by the Maryland Voter Information Clearinghouse which is a project of the University of Maryland.

We've also provided a link to lists of the polling places in each county:

• St. Mary's
• Calvert County
• Charles County (pdf file)

You can also contact the Board of Elections for your county.

If you have suggestions for what you would like to see in this year's guide, please write to us and we'll be sure to consider it.

Disclaimer: All information is believed to be accurate.  However, the local election board is the authority for any information related to election laws.