Early Voting

WASHINGTON COUNTY - A ballot measure approved Tuesday puts Maryland on track to join 31 states, including West Virginia, with early voting. Pennsylvania doesn't have early voting, but has considered it, Leah Harris, a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania's Department of State, said in a voice-mail message. Maryland's measure will let people vote up to two weeks before an election, anywhere in the state. Votes will be secured until the election. About 72 percent of the votes were in favor of the constitutional amendment, which allows the Maryland General Assembly to pass an early-voting law. The legislature isn't required to take action, but the approval of the amendment likely will be considered a public mandate.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- A ballot measure approved Tuesday puts Maryland on track to join 31 states, including West Virginia, with early voting. Pennsylvania doesn't have early voting, but has considered it, Leah Harris, a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania's Department of State, said in a voice-mail message. Maryland's measure will let people vote up to two weeks before an election, anywhere in the state. Votes will be secured until the election. About 72 percent of the votes were in favor of the constitutional amendment, which allows the Maryland General Assembly to pass an early-voting law. The legislature isn't required to take action, but the approval of the amendment likely will be considered a public mandate.

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Maryland voters approved legalizing slot machines Tuesday in a constitutional amendment, paving the way for up to 15,000 machines in five locations and ending years of debate between lawmakers who never managed to pass the measure on their own. With 66 percent of precincts reporting, approval of the measure received 59 percent of the vote. Voters statewide also approved amending the constitution to allow the General Assembly to approve early voting legislation.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Buoyed by an emotion-charged sprint for the White House and scores of contested local races, record numbers of voters are expected at the pools today in West Virginia. Given that about 18 percent of Berkeley County's 64,949 registered voters already have voted, County Clerk John W. Small Jr. said Monday that he expects a 70 percent turnout by the time polls close tonight. As of Monday, there were 24,611 Berkeley County residents registered with the Democratic Party, 24,233 Republicans and 15,727 registered with no party affiliation, according to a report generated Monday by the county voter registration office.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Convenience, anxiousness, necessity. Voters in Berkeley County had their own motives for waiting in hour-long lines Saturday during the last day to cast an early ballot for local, state and national elections. More than 1,000 residents poured into the Berkeley County Courthouse to make their choices. Anyone who wasn't standing in line at the 5 p.m. deadline must vote Tuesday on Election Day - or not at all. "I just wanted to make sure my vote got in," said Holly Johnson, 53, of Hedgesville, W.Va.

EASTERN PANHANDLE, W.Va. -- Excitement might be building as the general election nears, but for thousands of residents in Berkeley and Jefferson counties, voting is already behind them. Since early voting started across the state on Oct. 15, nearly 10,000 people in Berkeley and Jefferson counties have voted in what election officials say has been an impressive turnout. Early voting ends at 5 p.m. Saturday. Before early voting began, Berkeley County Clerk John W. Small Jr. predicted 5,000 people, "maybe more," would cast ballots before election day. "My new target is 10,000," Small said Monday afternoon after a turnout of 861 voters Saturday pushed the tally to 5,378.

Dueling partisan polls Democrat Jennifer Dougherty is pointing to an Oct. 6 poll as a sign she's within "striking distance" of defeating U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md. Dougherty said last week that public-opinion research company Garin-Hart-Yang conducted the statewide poll. A question about the 6th District race, she said, had Bartlett ahead 45 percent to 39 percent, with 16 percent undecided (apparently ignoring the third candidate, Libertarian Gary W. Hoover Sr.)

Editor's note: Each week, The Herald-Mail invites readers to answer poll questions on its Web site, www.herald-mail.com. Readers also may submit comments about the poll question when voting. Each Sunday, a sampling of edited reader comments will run in The Herald-Mail. Last week, there were two poll questions. The first question was: Do you support a referendum that would allow early voting in Maryland? o "Why?? Never understood this 'early' voting. One has all day to vote and if you're on vacation, you get an absentee ballot.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - The slot machine referendum has generated a lot of debate across Maryland, but there is another constitutional amendment facing voters on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. Voters will be asked to decide whether early voting should be allowed in Maryland. About 30 states allow some form of early voting, but a law that would have permitted it in Maryland was struck down as unconstitutional by the state's highest court in 2006. The proposed constitutional amendment would allow the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation permitting voters to cast ballots up to two weeks before an election.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- The slot machine referendum has generated a lot of debate across Maryland, but there is another constitutional amendment facing voters on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. Voters will be asked to decide whether early voting should be allowed in Maryland. About 30 states allow some form of early voting, but a law that would have permitted it in Maryland was struck down as unconstitutional by the state's highest court in 2006. The proposed constitutional amendment would allow the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation permitting voters to cast ballots up to two weeks before an election.