Board of Elections prepares for biggest primary in decades

State residents seeking to vote in either the Democratic or Republican Feb. 12 presidential primaries have until 9 p.m. this evening to register with the state board of elections or an individual’s local board of elections.

The state operates under a closed primary system, meaning only those who register as Democrats or Republicans can vote in their respective party’s primary. Registered Independents will not be allowed to vote in the Democratic or Republican primaries.

Record voter turnout has been seen in early primary and caucus states like Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

Despite the possibility of a large turnout in Maryland, the state board of elections is not planning any unusual activities to prepare for such an event.

“With voting unit allocation—we always prepare for 100 percent turnout,” said Ross Goldstein, the deputy state administrator at the state board of elections. “We don’t plan for expected turnout.”

Goldstein said the state would provide one voting machine per 200 voters. He added that the presidential ballot for Democrats and Republicans was “already set,” and would not change in appearance.

Meaning, candidates who have withdrawn from the presidential campaign since the Dec. 3 filing deadline in Maryland, will appear on the ballot unless, as Goldstein said, they withdraw with the state board. Candidates’ names will appear in alphabetical order.

Goldstein referred to a sample Democratic ballot, where Sen. Joe Biden still appears as the first name on the ballot. Biden withdrew from the race after a disappointing performance in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus.

While Clinton and Edwards appear near the top, the name of Sen. Barack Obama is the seventh on the Democratic ballot.

In addition, Goldstein would not speculate as to expected turnout in the 2008 presidential primaries, but said he expected it would exceed the 2004 figures, when 30.93% of Democrats participated, while 20.23% of Republicans did so. In 2000, without an incumbent president on the ballot, 42.55% of GOP voters went to the polls, while 34.68% of Democrats did so.

As for voter registration statistics, Mary Cramer Wagner, the director of the voter registration division at the state board of elections, said she had not analyzed recent voter registration data, and said she would not do so until later this week.

In December, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections, there were 6,588 new Democrats added to the polls state-wide, while 2,762 Republicans were added. There were, however, 6,712 Democrats removed from the polls, compared to 2,763 Republicans. Removals were largely due to address changes.

At the conclusion of 2007, there were 1,718,581 registered Democrats, while 884,665 Republicans were registered. An additional 506,871 voters were on the polls, largely unaffiliated with a political party.