Observations from a poll watcher: Day 1 of MD early voting

[BlueMTexpat]

I spent a couple hours holding Hillary signs and passing out literature at the polls in MD this afternoon and have a couple quick comments.'

1. It was fun. If you haven't already volunteered to do this and can spare the time, try it out sometime if you can. It's a good way to meet people and have a pleasant afternoon.

2. I was the only Hillary volunteer there. There were NO Bernie volunteers there while I was. There were several supporters of both Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards. All were very passionate about their candidates. Both are GOOD candidates. It's literally a toss-up as to which one will win the primary.

3. There were tons of Trump signs and a couple of Cruz signs. None for Kasich. No one was physically present who would admit to supporting either candidate, LOL.

4. The most exciting race going is for the county school board. This is generally apolitical. I personally spoke with several candidates who were holding their own signs. The most impressive, IMO, was a young man - currently in college - who was quite passionate about what he felt needed to be changed and how he is planning to do it. I might actually vote for him.

5. Based on my very informal exit poll assessment, i.e., the number of people who nodded and smiled at me and gave me thumbs-up signs, Hillary is winning in early voting by strong margins. There were also several people who shared how excited they were to be voting for the first woman US President. One woman stopped by to tell me that she is an Independent who specifically changed her voting registration to vote for Hillary (!) - and now will change back to Independent. So much for Hillary not attracting Indies!

May the Force be with Hillary in all state primaries through April 26! Let's get this primary season over with and stop ALL talk of a contested convention in its tracks!

[hrmjustin]

1. Thank you for what you are doing.

[BlueMTexpat]

2. And you too, justin!

You are really doing a LOT of good!

[hrmjustin]

3. .

[Her Sister]

4. Pretty great observations!

It's fun and very exciting to hear these 1st hand stories! Thanks for sharing!
WE ARE GOOD!!!

[pandr32]

5. Thanks for sharing that with us!

[CrowCityDem]

6. MD is already a win for Hillary.

[LonePirate]

7. Interesting story about the county school board. Definitely need more good Dems on those.

Repubs are laying waste to our youth with their control of school boards across America.

[workinclasszero]

8. Thanks

Looking good for Hillary

[kstewart33]

9. Thank you very much for all of your work in getting Hillary elected.

And thanks for this inspiring post!

[BlueMTexpat]

12. It's really nice to interact with

real people who act like human beings. In my long experience with many different cultures, I have found generally that if you treat people courteously and in a friendly manner, they generally respond that way.

Some anonymous posters on an internet board seem to believe that anonymity automatically gives them license to act like bullying oafs. That kind of behavior doesn't work well anywhere.

One UPS driver came by and thought he'd be a smart-aleck. He opened his door and called out to me: "What'd you do to get stuck holding a Hillary sign?" I responded: "Sir, it's my great honor and pleasure to hold a sign for the first woman President of the US." He doffed his hat to me and drove off.

[kstewart33]

15. Very cool. nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

25. HA!! Brilliant response!

[LAS14]

10. Thanks for the peek into the real world! nt

[Thinkingabout]

11. Look for the delegate count to start jumping quickly now.

It is exciting now, for all of the rest of the primaries, your vote counts a lot, it does nit matter if Hillary gets the magic number, we still want the votes. We can't count on a bird to help us, must votes.

[BlueMTexpat]

14. +1! eom

[yallerdawg]

13. They open the polls for early voting?

Down here in Alabama, they're trying to figure out how to close more polls on Election Day (I live in the Black Belt)!

Red State Blue State?

[BlueMTexpat]

16. MD is a great state in many ways

and I wish that more states were like it, in voting at least.

Voting Day = April 26
Early voting = April 14-April 21

We also have absentee voting options. I can also attest from my Democrats Abroad experience that MD is one state that makes it very easy for expatriate US citizens whose last voting US address is in MD to vote. Not all states do, I'm sorry to say.

What AL and too many other states are doing to restrict voting is literally criminal.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

26. This is a great blue state, but we fucked up electing a Republican Governor. It was an off-year

election, so there's that. Still, no excuse. O'Malley was one of the greatest governors this state has ever had. But he put up a weak Lt. Governor to run, and turnout was low due to lack of voter enthusiasm.

[lunamagica]

17. Thanks for letting us know! Good job!

[livetohike]

18. Thanks for reporting on your experience! I work at the polls on

the election board, so I get a different perspective. Wish I could spend time as a poll watcher, but here in PA we only have one day to vote.

[BlueMTexpat]

24. Yesterday, one election judge came

out during a lull in voting to check that we were all standing the required distance away (at least 100 feet) from the polling center. He congratulated us all for "behaving" and then chatted for a couple moments before going back in.

There were lots of friendly and good-humored people from both points of view. It is times like yesterday that make me really appreciate what a wonderful and diverse country we have. We had different genders, races and ethnic backgrounds either holding up signs or voting.

I wish that you had more than one day to vote in PA. I am not sure why more states don't have early voting periods or make voting more easy in other ways as well. GOP legislators perhaps?

[livetohike]

28. Yes our state legislature is Reublican. They tried and failed

to require a photo ID to vote.

We only have 222 registered voters in our precinct. I live in a rural area. Election time is the only time I see any neighbors. So it is like a social event. A few of us bake cookies and when someone comes in to vote there is always time to talk. There is only one voting machine LOL.

[BlueMTexpat]

29. Glad to hear that their worst

efforts were thwarted. Your voting day does sound like fun!

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

19. I'm going to try and vote on Friday or Saturday morning...

Great report!!

[Lucinda]

20. Thank you for what you are doing, and for sharing this with us!

The last week or so has been pretty tough in my world, and it is great to hear good news. I really think we need to make a big push to repair the erosion of voters rights and MD looks like a great example of a state that is getting it right!

[leftofcool]

21. Thank you Blue. Great report!

[fleabiscuit]

22. Thank you! K&R

[DemonGoddess]

23. K&R!

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

[apcalc]

27. Thanks for your work!

[Cha]

30. Mahalo for your enthusiastic activism in Maryland, BlueMT!