Sean Ayers expected to wait even longer than the 50 minutes it took for him to vote at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School. He packed chairs, water and snacks for himself and his two sons, Jacob, 8, and Joshua, 11. His boys took homework.
Ayers wanted his sons with him when he voted for Obama. "This is historic here, the first black president - soon-to-be, hopefully," he said. "As I told them this morning, a lot of people died for the right to even do this."
Joshua Ayers, a sixth-grader, took the lesson to heart: "It makes me proud to see somebody my race hopefully become president of the United States."
In Glen Burnie, the turnout caused a temporary doughnut shortage. A Krispy Kreme branch that had been giving voters free treats as part of a national promotion ran out of the sugary confections by 2 p.m.
Barbara Drayton, 55, of Columbia was first among more than 100 voters lined up at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center. She arrived at 5:40 a.m.
"As a baby boomer and a child of the '50s, I never thought I'd see this day - a black man having the opportunity to have his name on the ballot," she said.
Despite Obama's victory in Maryland, support for Republican John McCain drew voters like Scott Mayster to the polls.
A Republican from Rockville, Mayster cast his ballot for McCain enthusiastically. "I don't want Obama as my president. I believe government is already over-reaching and I have concerns about Obama expanding government's reach beyond its ability."
In many places, the number of voters was unprecedented. At Lombard Middle School, 119 people had voted as of 9:30 a.m. - more than an entire day's turnout in prior elections, said Barbara Partlow, who's been working the polls for 38 years. "A change," that's why so many came, she said.
At Augsburg Lutheran Village in the Lochearn area of Baltimore County, Elbert and Lillie Street said they waited four hours to vote. But they weren't complaining.
"We are happy. We've lived long enough. We've been waiting to see this day," said Elbert Street, who voted for Obama with his wife and brushed a tear from his eye as he spoke. Both are African-Americans. "I would go back and do it again."
Baltimore Sun reporters Tricia Bishop, Julie Bykowicz, Larry Carson, Arin Gencer, Liz F. Kay, Jennifer McMenamin, Nick Madigan, Frank D. Roylance, Gus G. Sentementes, Julie Scharper, David Wood and the Associated Press contributed to this article.
Hard-fought battles in Pennsylvania and Virginia go to Obama. PG 7
