A massive wave of young people who registered to cast their ballots drove state voter rolls to new highs in anticipation of Election Day, according to numbers released Thursday by the state Board of Elections.
The board announced that more than 300,000 new voters had registered in Maryland by the Oct. 14 deadline - and 18- and 19-year-olds made up 27.5 percent of that total. In the past four presidential election years, the number of new registrations in that age group averaged 11 percent.
"I think it's a testament to two things," said Devin Ellis, the coordinator of TerpsVote. "The issues at hand matter to them day-to-day, and the personalities in the election have generated a lot of excitement. Secondly, it's in credit to the amazing work people have done with registration drives."
In Prince George's County, an astounding 28,000 people registered between Sept. 30 and the Oct. 14 deadline, helping the county increase its voter rolls by 6 percent from the 2004 election.
"Most of the outreach is right before the deadline, because it has that sense of urgency and people are more likely to do it," said Lauren Kim, president of the university chapter of Maryland Public Interest Research Group. "And most of those that register do vote."
Overall, the state saw a 10 percent increase in the number of registered voters this year, as 3.4 million people are eligible to cast their ballots on Nov. 4. Prince George's County has 494,859 people registered, up from 466,612 in 2004.
Organizations on the campus such as the Student Government Association and MaryPIRG are already looking forward to what this means for Election Day, in terms of long lines and the number of voting machines and poll workers at on-campus polling spots - 2,514 people signed up to vote through the efforts of campus groups.
Donna Duncan, the Maryland Board of Elections' director of election management, said the state uses projections of how many people will register to allocate voting machines. The actual number of registered voters exceeded expectations, but Duncan said it's not a concern.
"We are well beyond the mandate that requires one [voting machine] for every 200 registered voters," she said.
As the only TerpsVote volunteer for the Prince George's County Board of Elections, MaryPIRG campus organizer Greg Schwab said he is strongly advocating for more voting machines. He said he hopes to nail down the exact number today.
"Under law, they can't give extra machines if there aren't enough election judges," he said. "So it's a two-prong process: Assuring the machines are there and that there are enough election judges and volunteers for such busy places as Stamp [Student Union] and Ritchie [Coliseum]."
Ellis said the county has indicated it would keep a number of judges and machines in reserve and send them out to crowded polling places on Election Day.
"We're going to have to make sure students on campus are encouraged to come out and vote and be vigilant with our presence at the polls. The county is going to have to be on the ball," Ellis said.
"I selfishly do hope that we get extra," he added.
Kim, however, said the numbers prove that Election Day lines will be "insane," which is why she supports the Early Voting Referendum that will be on the ballot. Kim said another concern is vote suppression.
"The youth vote is going to change the election this year, so there's going to be an effort out there to intimidate young voters, to confuse them," she said. "People have to be prepared since we don't have early voting, they'll have to set aside a few hours and have a plan because of the lines."
But while there are a variety of concerns, the importance of the youth vote is very exciting, Kim said. MaryPIRG intern Vinnie Ochoa, who will work as an election judge in Silver Spring on Nov. 4, is looking to the future.
"No matter how the election goes, candidates in the future will see through the number of young registered voters that we are an actual, visible voice in who gets elected," Ochoa said. "We will see things geared towards our age group, like plans for cheaper tuition, cars, textbooks and more federal aid."
sticedbk@gmail.com
Be the first to comment on this article!