Election Day weather boosts case for early voting

GOP says it’s costly, prone to tampering and unnecessary

Lawmakers, some of whom were unable to cast a ballot on Tuesday, say it highlights the need for early voting, which is up for referendum in November, or other changes.

‘‘Every election generates ideas for reform of elections,” said Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring. ‘‘In this election, we saw that we really are vulnerable to extreme weather events. There were tons of people who could not make it to the polls because they were stuck in their cars.”

Raskin also wants Maryland to explore the mandatory balloting-by-mail concept that Oregon uses as a possible solution.

‘‘The truth is, it’s a logistical nightmare if everybody tries to go and vote at the same time,” he said. ‘‘We need to stagger it. We need to spread it out.”

Del. Heather R. Mizeur was among the stranded in Annapolis, where traffic backed up for miles because of closures at several area bridges. Closures like would have less effect on voters if they could have cast their ballots early, she said.

‘‘Early voting assures that on election night, there’s not just one chunk of time on one day where you can show up to vote,” said Mizeur (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park.

That’s what absentee ballots are for, Republicans argue. Early voting is costly, increases the chances for voter fraud and wouldn’t have prevented Tuesday’s problems.

‘‘It sounds nice, but those things cost money,” said Del. Susan W. Krebs (R-Dist. 9B) of Eldersburg, running off a list of more important priorities for the state to finance, such as health insurance for seniors and property tax relief. ‘‘To me, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze for what the cost is.”

But another GOP lawmaker said what happened Tuesday should spur a look at making Election Day a state holiday.

‘‘We have so many minor national holidays,” said Del. James J. King (R-Dist. 33A) of Gambrills. ‘‘Exercising your right to vote is the most precious right we have in this country.”

King also missed out on voting, but said the fault lies with him for not going to his polling place in the morning.

Voters in Western Maryland, where the weather was particularly inclement, were disenfranchised by the legislature’s decision last year to advance the primary by three weeks.

The conditions made Election Day ‘‘a horrific fiasco,” said Del. Kevin Kelly (D-Dist. 1B) of Cumberland, who received dozens of calls from miffed constituents. ‘‘This was done in total disregard to Western Maryland. It was absurd to move the primary up and in this case, what does it decide? Nothing. The [Democratic] primary is still going to be wide open in March.”

Even when the decision was made to keep polls open late, word was slow to get around. There were reports of people being turned away from some precincts. Kelly said the polls should have stayed open until at least 11 p.m.

Some Republicans said the situation should drive up absentee balloting in the future. Early voting is an ill-conceived concept, they say, because voters should make their decision based on the same information.

‘‘It strongly subverts a core principle of our democracy that all the citizens should come together on a single day based on the same information accumulated up to that day, cast their votes together and accept the outcome,” said Del. Steven R. Schuh (R-Dist. 31) of Gibson Island.

Still, Democrats who were unable to vote say this will breathe new life into their case for authorizing early voting.

‘‘There are a variety of examples now where we can hit a burp in the process that can prevent people from getting to the polls,” said Mizeur, pointing to the problems in Montgomery County in 2006 that left some people unable to cast a ballot. ‘‘By having early voting, it gives us flexibility to those scenarios.”