Absentee Ballots

HAGERSTOWN -- The final results of Tuesday's Hagerstown City Council race remain too close to call. Dorothy Kaetzel, director of the Washington County Board of Elections, said the final results won't be released until Thursday, when absentee ballots are counted. The top five vote-getters will serve on the council. According to unofficial election results, the candidates who received the most votes were Democrat William M. Breichner, 1,559; Democrat incumbent Lewis C. Metzner, 1,526; unaffiliated candidate Ashley C. Haywood, 1,403; Democrat incumbent Martin E. Brubaker, 1,388; and Democrat David A. Lidz, 1,371.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown residents won't have the final say Tuesday when they vote on whether to change the dates of city elections. City Attorney William Nairn said that regardless of what happens during Tuesday's balloting, it will be up to the City Council to make the final decision. "It's not a mandatory ballot question," Nairn said. "The council would have to pass it. " A vote in favor of the question reflects the voter is in favor of changing the dates on which the city holds its elections to coincide with the presidential election.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown voters have until 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to apply for absentee ballots to vote in the city election on May 19. Kaye Robucci, deputy director of the Washington County Board of Elections, said any city resident who is a registered voter will be permitted to cast an absentee ballot. Ballots that are returned to the Board of Elections by mail must be postmarked no later than May 19, she said. People also will be permitted to vote by absentee ballot at the Board of Elections Office.

HAGERSTOWN -- The results of the City of Hagerstown's primary election remained unchanged Thursday after 102 absentee ballots were counted. Kaye Robucci, deputy director of the Washington County Board of Elections, said the absentee totals were added to the votes that were recorded Tuesday during the Republican mayoral and Democratic City Council primaries. The election results were certified Thursday afternoon. With the counting of the absentee ballots, voter turnout for the primary increased from 11.2 percent to 11.8 percent, according to election statistics.

HAGERSTOWN -- The results of the City of Hagerstown's primary election will be certified today after election workers finish counting about 100 absentee ballots, said Dorothy Kaetzel, director of the Washington County Board of Elections. Kaetzel said election workers will split into two teams at about 10 a.m. and count the ballots by hand. The results should be certified this afternoon, she said. Fifty-three of the 61 Democratic absentee ballots that were issued have been returned, as have 48 of the 55 Republican absentee ballots, city election official Eve McGrory said Tuesday.

Three Hagerstown City Council incumbents were tossed from office Tuesday during the city's Democratic primary election, according to unofficial results. With all 14 precincts reporting, Councilwomen Kelly S. Cromer, Penny M. Nigh and Alesia D. Parson-McBean failed to place among the top five vote-getters to advance to the general election on May 19. The winners of the general election will take office June 1. The primary results won't become official until Thursday, when the absentee ballots are to be counted, said Eve McGrory of the Hagerstown Elections Board.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II gathered 53 percent of the vote during the Republican primary Tuesday to advance to the general election on May 19, according to unofficial results from the Washington County Board of Elections. Bruchey gathered 465 votes to Ann Holtzman's 344 votes, according to unofficial election results. A third mayoral candidate, Jonathan R. Burrs, received 70 votes. The election results won't become official until the absentee ballots are counted Thursday, said Eve McGrory of the City Elections Board.

More than 3,200 absentee ballots counted this week in Washington County didn't affect Election Day results. In the closest race, Justin M. Hartings' lead over Jacqueline B. Fischer for the fourth and final open Washington County Board of Education seat dropped from 2,046 votes to 1,977 votes. The Washington County Board of Elections released updated totals Friday after completing a two-day review of the bulk of the absentee ballots. Elections officials have about 1,000 provisional ballots to examine Monday and about 800 more absentee ballots to go through Nov 14. Fischer has acknowledged that her deficit is too great for her to win. Of the 3,278 absentee ballots counted, Wayne D. Ridenour - who led the field of eight school board candidates at the end of Election Day - picked up 1,533 votes, the most of any candidate.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- As he watched absentee ballots counted Thursday, Washington County Board of Education candidate Justin M. Hartings quipped that he was there to make sure his lead stayed intact. At the end of Election Day, Hartings was in fourth place in a race for four school board seats. His lead over fifth-place candidate Jacqueline B. Fischer was 21,120 to 19,074 -- a margin of 2,046 votes. Election officials went through 2,192 of the roughly 4,000 absentee ballots that had been received by Thursday.

"The last check box on the presidential election ballot should be 'None of the above. Start over.'" "Remember President Ronald Reagan, who first promised to 'deregulate' and 'get government off our backs'? Reagan pushed for deregulation of airlines, and now most of them are going bankrupt. The deregulation and crash of savings and loans, with ensuing taxpayer bailout, happened on his watch. President Bush appointed the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who ignored most of the shenanigans on Wall Street.