Problems At Baltimore Polls On Election Day: Missing Page, Delays

BALTIMORE, MD — Vandalism, a missing page and delayed starts have been reported at polling places around Baltimore City. By 10 a.m., there were three locations that had experienced hiccups on Election Day.

Before polls opened on Tuesday morning, the Baltimore City Board of Elections announced an emergency polling place change after the Towanda Recreation Center was vandalized.

Those who had planned to vote at the rec center at 4100 Towanda Avenue should instead go to Creative City Public Charter School #384 at 2810 Shirley Avenue, officials advised. The polling place at Creative City Public Charter School is about 0.2 mile from the Towanda Recreation Center.

At the Central Library in midtown Baltimore, the problems were twofold. First, voters had to wait because of a technical difficulty. Then some were given incomplete ballots, according to voters.

"I lined up around 6:50 a.m. — polls opened at 7 a.m.," Alexandra Adams told Patch. She said voters were taken upstairs at Enoch Pratt Free Library at 400 Cathedral Street.

And then they waited.

Trying to vote at Enoch Pratt library in Baltimore and they told us something was broken and they’re sending someone out to fix it? People are leaving @BenJealous @ACLU
— Nelly Fritata (@oliviamcgavisk) November 6, 2018

"We were waiting for about 10 minutes before they said the poll books were broken. They offered us folding chairs," Adams said.

Another voter snapped a picture of the chairs.

Kudos to the excellent staff at the Enoch Pratt for bringing chairs up for those who can’t stand in line very long, but the @md_sbe needs to get in gear. These polls aren’t open. Again, this violates federal election law. pic.twitter.com/HP45OWEKIp
— Nate Brown (@NateBrownBrown) November 6, 2018

"Around 7:35 a.m. or 7:40 a.m., somebody was able to come fix them," Adams said of machines where voters feed their completed ballots.

Before the machines were fixed, she reported some people left.

But that was not the end of the issues at the Central Library.

Once she got her ballot, Adams said she heard a man "making a little bit of a fuss" about something else.

"He asked how to vote on the city provisions. They [poll workers] kept telling him, 'It's only one page; it's front and back.' And eventually he showed them a sample ballot he had on his phone, and said: 'There's a second page.'"

Workers proceeded to retrieve a box filled with the second page of the ballot, according to Adams, and they distributed it to her and others who were currently voting.

"At that point, about 40 to 50 people had already voted," she reported.

The second page includes Baltimore City-specific questions regarding bonds and proposed charter amendments.

Adams, who lives in Baltimore but said she has previously voted in Virginia, found the experience disconcerting.

"It was a little frightening," she said of the problems at the polling place on Cathedral Street. She told Patch she "was making eye contact with other voters — how could there be a second page that they didn't know about?"

She said she had reviewed the ballot ahead of time and knew there would be a page filled with questions. In fact, one of the state questions was partially what compelled her to get to the polls — the constitutional amendment allowing same-day voter registration in Maryland.

"I wanted to make sure that I voted for that as well as voting Democrat basically," Adams told Patch on Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Despite the issues she encountered, Adams wanted to encourage others to get to the polls. "Don't let the rain stop you," Adams said. "Stay in line."

According to Fox 45, there was another polling place where voting was off to a late start; at Matthew A. Henson Elementary School in the 1600 block of North Payson Street, the doors did not open to voters until 7:20 a.m. One voter left due to the delay, according to Fox 45, but she vowed to return to the west Baltimore polling place later.

At Beth Am Synagogue in the 2500 block of Eutaw Place in Reservoir Hill, 30 people waited in line about 15 minutes after the poll was slated to open because poll workers "can't find the ballot," according to WYPR Midday show host Tom Hall.

This story includes a tip from ProPublica's Electionland project, which monitors voting problems around the country. If you had trouble voting, or if you saw something you want to tell us about, here’s how.

SEE ALSO: Baltimore City Election Guide 2018

Image via Shutterstock.