Politics & Government
Hyattsville Polling Stations Show High Attendance, Smooth Voting
Although polling stations at St. Mark's Catholic School, Hyattsville City Hall and Hyattsville Library differed in how crowded each was, all three stations show high attendance.
Polling places today at St. Mark's Catholic School, Hyattsville Library and Hyattsville City Hall saw a voter turnout of over 50 percent.
As of 4:30 p.m. on election day more than 50 percent of the approximately 500 voters registered at St. Mark's Catholic School came out to do their civic duty, according to election judge Travis McKinnon. Of the 278 voters who showed up, only seven casted provisional ballots.
With more than 1820 voters registered at Hyattsville Library, the polling station was saw a much fuller parking lot and a much bigger crowd. According to election judge Joe Hinton, despite the high attendance, everything has gone smoothly so far. By 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, 1281 votes were casted, around 120 of which were provisional ballots.
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For resident Sean Townsend, 52, support for the Maryland Dream Act and civil marriage was a clear choice, but Question 7 required a bit more comptemplation. "With Question 7, I was on the fence until voting and I can't say I voted for that," he said. "There's no guarantee. There's no guarantee of where the money is going to and the jobs that it will create."
"And it's going to give too much power to somebody," he added.
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Much like the polling station at St. Mark's Catholic School, the polling station at Hyattsville City Hall only a few people trickled in at a time around 6:30 p.m. Though it was not crowded, over 75 percent of the 618 registered voters had casted a ballot two hours before voting closes. 456 ballots were casted electronically while 29 were provision ballots.
Resident Dexter Gaines, 43, who voted at St. Mark's, was glad to avoid the long lines other residents around the state had to experience. "I like being able to walk in and ten minutes in, cast my vote and be done," he said. Though, he added, a long line would not have deterred him from voting.
"It's our civic duty as people of America," he said. "It's our process and we need to take ownership of that process and get involved, otherwise, you don't have the right to complain."