NEWS
By FROM SUN NEWS SERVICES | November 13, 2008
Obama names transition teams for 3 agencies WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama has named a team heavy on experience in the Clinton administration to help guide transition efforts in the State, Defense and Treasury departments. In a statement yesterday, Obama revealed the agency review team leaders who will be responsible for reviewing budgets, personnel and policy in the three departments. All six served in some capacity under President Bill Clinton. The Treasury team leads are Josh Gotbaum, an investment fund adviser who has experience in multiple federal agencies; and Michael Warren, chief operating officer of advisory firm Stonebridge International who was executive director of the President's National Economic Council.
NEWS
By Mary Gail Hare | November 9, 2008
An unprecedented surge in registrations, heightened interest in the presidential and congressional races and organized efforts to get voters to the polls did not give Harford County the record turnout many officials expected. "Given the interest and the high numbers in the morning, I thought we were headed toward 90 percent," said James E. Massey, director of the county Board of Elections. "Toward evening, things got quiet, and we ended the day with a 76 percent turnout." Presidential elections typically draw large numbers, with this year's tally at 114,000 voters, he said.
NEWS
By Sara Neufeld and Matthew Hay Brown | November 8, 2008
Democrat Frank M. Kratovil Jr. was "encouraged" by the Associated Press' decision yesterday to call the closely fought 1st Congressional District race in his favor but said it was not yet time to celebrate. "I am honored and humbled by the support I've received in this election and am clearly encouraged by where the numbers stand and the subsequent Associated Press announcement," he said in a statement. "Right now, my top priority is making sure that every vote is counted and every voice is heard."
NEWS
By Matthew Hay Brown and Mary Gail Hare | November 7, 2008
Democrat Frank M. Kratovil Jr. saw his slim lead over Republican Andy Harris more than double yesterday as election judges began to open absentee ballots in the 1st Congressional District. In totals that now include absentee ballots from Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties - Republican strongholds where Harris had hoped to close the gap with his rival - Kratovil has expanded his lead to more than 1,800 votes. The 40-year-old prosecutor from the Eastern Shore now appears on the verge of an upset in a district that has been held by the GOP since 1991, a victory that would give Democrats their seventh out of Maryland's eight House seats and further increase the party's congressional majority.
NEWS
By Matthew Hay Brown | November 6, 2008
With tens of thousands of ballots yet to be counted, the bitterly fought House race between Democrat Frank M. Kratovil Jr. and Republican Andy Harris is unlikely to be settled before the end of next week, state officials said yesterday. Kratovil, the state's attorney for Queen Anne's County, led Harris, a state senator from Cockeysville, by fewer than 1,000 of the more than 329,000 votes cast Tuesday in the contest for the seat now held by longtime Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest. The tally doesn't include the more than 25,000 absentee ballots that elections officials are to begin counting today.
NEWS
By John-John Williams IV | November 6, 2008
With more than 13,000 absentee ballots to be counted, the top vote-getters in the race for the Howard County school board expressed cautious optimism yesterday at the election results but refrained from claiming victory. Current board members Janet Siddiqui and Ellen Flynn Giles and challenger Allen Dyer led the field of six candidates vying for three open seats on the board in Tuesday's election. Diana Butler was in fourth place, just slightly more than 1,000 votes behind Dyer. The counting of the absentee ballots will begin today and final results are expected to be available Nov. 14, said Betty Nordaas, the county's elections administrator.
NEWS
November 4, 2008
For: Early Voting; Polling Places; Absentee Ballots "Authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation to allow qualified voters to vote at polling places inside or outside of their election districts or wards and to vote up to two weeks before an election. This amendment also authorizes the General Assembly to enact legislation to allow absentee voting by qualified voters who choose to vote by absentee ballot, in addition to voters who are absent at the time of the election or who are unable to vote personally."
NEWS
By David Nitkin | October 23, 2008
Maryland officials are urging voters to double-check precinct locations so their ballots are counted on Election Day, when an exceptionally high turnout is expected. State elections administrator Linda H. Lamone said yesterday that nine out of 10 registered voters might turn out Nov. 4 in some parts of the state, and she expects a statewide participation rate of about 85 percent. That would eclipse the most recent high of 81 percent in 1992. Four years ago, 78 percent of registered voters went to the polls.
NEWS
By Mary Gail Hare | October 12, 2008
Harford County residents are registering to vote in record numbers, often as many as 500 daily in the days preceding the registration deadline at 9 p.m. Tuesday. The heightened interest has officials predicting an unprecedented 90 percent turnout on Nov. 4. The Board of Elections will remain open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow, the Columbus Day holiday, and Tuesday to accommodate what officials expect to be a crush of last-minute registrations. "Typically, registration goes up in a presidential election, when there is always more interest," said James E. Massey, director of Harford's Board of Elections.
NEWS
By Brent Jones | September 14, 2007
Warren Branch lost three votes to incumbent Vernon E. Crider when dozens of absentee ballots were counted yesterday. But he still appears set to take the District 13 seat in the Baltimore City Council. Branch led Crider by 48 votes with fewer than an estimated 100 provisional and absentee ballots left to be tallied next week. At the start of yesterday's count, Branch held a 51-vote lead over Crider. Of the 64 ballots tallied, Crider gained 18 votes, followed by Branch's 15. The other three candidates split the remaining 31 votes.