To vote in the general election on Nov. 6, you must be registered to vote at your current address by Oct. 16.
For the first time, you can register to vote or update your registration online in Maryland at https://voterservices.elections.state.md.us/OnlineVoterRegistration
To submit your registration electronically, you must provide a valid Maryland-issued state ID number or driver's license number. The signature on file with the MVA will become your official voter registration signature.
Or download a voter registration form at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Elections/registration/VoterRegistration.html.
VOTE EARLY: Avoid the possibility that an earthquake, Derecho or gridlock could keep you from voting on Election Day. You can vote early in Montgomery County Saturday, Oct. 27 - Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. (not Sundays) at five locations around the county.
- Executive Office Building, 101 Monroe Street, Rockville, MD 20850
- Bauer Drive Community Recreation Center, 14625 Bauer Drive, Rockville, MD 20853
- Germantown Community Recreation Center, 18905 Kingsview Road, Germantown, MD 20874
- Silver Spring Civic Building, One Veterans Place, Silver Spring, MD 20910
- Marilyn Praisner Community Center, 14906 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD 20866
If you will not be available to vote on Election Day, you can also vote absentee. Download an application for an absentee ballot at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/elections/registration/absenteeapplication.html
WHAT'S ON THE BALLOT?
In addition to voting for President of the United States, voters in Maryland will choose a U.S. senator and members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Montgomery County voters will choose members of the Board of Education At-Large and in Districts 2 and 4. Judges will also appear on the ballot. Plus there are a variety of ballot questions. Visit http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2012/general_candidates/index.html
For U.S. Senate, incumbent Ben Cardin (D) will face Daniel John Bongino (R), Dean Ahmad, a Libertarian from Bethesda, and four write-in candidates.
U.S. House of Representatives
Potomac is now split between Congressional Districts 6 and 8. See map. Before redistricting, Potomac was entirely in Congressional District 8, and represented by U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D).
Roscoe Bartlett (R) is the incumbent in Congressional District 6 since 1993, and will face John Delaney (D) in the newly configured district, which stretches all the way to Garrett County. Nickolaus Mueller, a Libertarian, will also appear on the ballot.
Chris Van Hollen (D) will face Ken Timmerman (R), Libertarian Mark Grannis and Green party candidate George Gluck.
The Montgomery County Board of Education consists of seven county residents elected by voters for a four-year term and a student elected by secondary school students for a one-year term. Board members are elected countywide on a staggered basis, but run at large, or from the Board district where they live. One at-large member and Districts 2 and 4 will appear on the ballot in November.
Phil Kauffman incumbent At-Large will face Morris Panner.
Fred Evans will face Rebecca Smondrowski in District 2.
Incumbent Christopher Barclay, who is current BOE president, will face Annita Seckinger in District 4.
BALLOT QUESTIONS
Voters will face seven statewide ballot questions and two Montgomery County questions on the November ballot, including hot button questions on expanding gambling, in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants in some cases and a question on a bill passed by the General Assembly allowing civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples. More detail is available at http://www.elections.state.md.us/elections/2012/ballot_question_language.html
Statewide Questions
Questions 1 and 2, Qualifications for Prince George's County and Baltimore County Orphans' Court Judges, requiring that they be admitted to practice law in this State and to be a member in good standing of the Maryland Bar.
Question 3, Suspension and Removal of Elected Officials: Under the amended law, an elected official is suspended when found guilty and is removed when the conviction becomes final or when the elected official pleads guilty or no contest.
Question 4, Public Institutions of Higher Education - Establishes that individuals, including undocumented immigrants, are eligible to pay in-state tuition rates at community colleges in Maryland, provided the student meets certain conditions relating to attendance and graduation from a Maryland high school, filing of income taxes, intent to apply for permanent residency, and registration with the selective service system (if required); makes such students eligible to pay in-state tuition rates at a four-year public college or university if the student has first completed 60 credit hours or graduated from a community college in Maryland; provides that students qualifying for in-state tuition rates by this method will not be counted as in-state students for purposes of counting undergraduate enrollment; and extends the time in which honorably discharged veterans may qualify for in-state tuition rates.
Question 5, Congressional Districting Plan, Establishes the boundaries for the State's eight United States Congressional Districts based on recent census figures, as required by the U.S. Constitution.
Question 6, Referendum Petition Civil Marriage Protection Act
Establishes that Maryland's civil marriage laws allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain a civil marriage license, provided they are not otherwise prohibited from marrying; protects clergy from having to perform any particular marriage ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs; affirms that each religious faith has exclusive control over its own theological doctrine regarding who may marry within that faith; and provides that religious organizations and certain related entities are not required to provide goods, services, or benefits to an individual related to the celebration or promotion of marriage in violation of their religious beliefs.
Question 7, Gaming Expansion Referendum
Do you favor the expansion of commercial gaming in the State of Maryland for the primary purpose of raising revenue for education to authorize video lottery operation licensees to operate “table games” as defined by law; to increase from 15,000 to 16,500 the maximum number of video lottery terminals that may be operated in the State; and to increase from 5 to 6 the maximum number of video lottery operation licenses that may be awarded in the State and allow a video lottery facility to operate in Prince George's County?
Two Montgomery County Questions
Question A, Charter Amendment Merit System - Hiring Individuals with Disabilities
Amend Section 401 of the County Charter to allow the County to operate a program within the merit system to recruit and select qualified individuals with severe physical and mental disabilities on a noncompetitive basis.
Question B, Referendum on Law Enacted by County Council Effects Bargaining for Police Employees:
Shall the Act to modify the scope of collective bargaining with police employees to permit the exercise of certain management rights without first bargaining the effects of those rights on police employees become law?
SERVE AS AN ELECTION JUDGE
Montgomery County's Board of Elections is needs individuals to serve as election judges at polling places for the Presidential General Election, Nov. 6, 2012.
In accordance with the Election Code, judges must be registered to vote in the State of Maryland. They must also be able to speak, read, and write the English language, and while acting as a judge must not hold, or be a candidate for, public or party office. In addition, election judges may not serve as a campaign manager for a candidate or as treasurer for any campaign financial entity. Election judges bilingual in Spanish and Republican election judges are needed throughout the county. Training will be provided and all judges will be compensated for Election Judge services.