Marylanders can get head start on early voting

July 31, 2006|by ANDREW SCHOTZ

"Vote early, vote often," the saying goes.

The second part still is illegal, but this year, Maryland is giving people an option on the first part.

Voting will be with a touch-screen system, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.

There will be at least one early-voting polling place in every jurisdiction for the primary and general elections. In Washington County, it will be the county office building at 35 W. Washington St.

Early voting for the primary will take place from Sept. 5 to 9.

The general-election early voting period will be Oct. 31 through Nov. 4.

Voting hours will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The state board of elections says the early-voting registration deadline is Aug. 22 for the primary election and Oct. 17 for the general election.

The primary election is Sept. 12 and the general election is Nov. 7.

Local delegate among the roses

Maryland Del. Christopher B. Shank, R-Washington, has been part of the fanfare when state bills are signed.

But, when it happens at the White House Rose Garden, "security was a bit tighter, shall we say," Shank reported by cell phone Thursday as he left Washington, D.C.

The occasion was President Bush signing the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006.

The federal law creates tighter restrictions on and monitoring of sexual offenders, in ways comparable to a law Maryland recently enacted after a special session of the Maryland General Assembly.

Shank said he was one of a handful of state officials and lawmakers picked to represent Maryland at the White House signing ceremony.

He said U.S. senators and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales were there, too, along with John Walsh, whose 6-year-old son, Adam, was abducted and killed in 1981.

|

|

|