As reported in the Baltimore Sun on Tuesday, October 30, more than halfway through Maryland’s eight-day early voting period, turnout had been more than double what it was during the prior gubernatorial election. Time will tell whether these numbers are harbingers of a high turnout overall, since so far in Maryland early voting has drawn voters away from their local polling places rather than noticeably increasing turnout.
Nonetheless, this is a year when people are looking for signs of change of one sort or another. Is voter registration up significantly? Has there been a shift in party affiliation? In Greenbelt at least, the answer is “yes and no.”
When voter registration closed in October, Greenbelt’s total stood at 13,452, which is the highest it has been in a decade, and that almost surely means it is the highest it has ever been. Since the primary elections in June of this year, citywide registration increased by 445 voters, or 3.4 percent, and it increased in all five precincts, ranging from a 1.2 percent increase in precinct 18 (Turning Point) to a 5.6 percent increase in precinct 8 (Greenbelt West). Increases for the other three precincts were 4 percent (Community Center), 3 percent (Eleanor Roosevelt High School) and 2.5 percent (Greenbelt Elementary School).
Earlier high points for Greenbelt registration had included the Trump-Clinton presidential election of 2016 (12,958) and both Barack Obama elections (11,113 in 2008 and 11,520 in 2012).
For more on this story, click here.