Nine States & DC Holding Primaries Today
Rhode Island has all the attention, but there are actually primaries going on all across the country.
Rhode Island's independent-minded Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee confronted stiff opposition Tuesday in his bid for a second term, the latest race with a moderate targeted by his own party's hard-line critics.
Nine states and Washington, D.C., were holding primary elections Tuesday, but Chafee's race has drawn the most attention as another test of the depth of anti-incumbent sentiment and the erosion of the political middle ground.
The R.I. results could ultimately affect which party controls the U.S. Senate.
In Maryland, Democrats were choosing a Senate candidate to go up against Republican Michael Steele, the lieutenant governor. An open House seat in Arizona has drawn a contentious crowd of GOP candidates, as well as several hopefuls on the Democratic side. Minnesota Democrats will pick a candidate for a House seat left open by retiring 14-term Democratic Rep. Martin Sabo.
Many races won't be close, but they will set up important November contests that include Senate seats in Arizona and Minnesota, and the race for governor in Maryland, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Other states holding primaries are Delaware, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, while the District of Columbia will select mayoral candidates.
Also, I don't know WTF was going on with the voting machines in Maryland today, but voting will remain open until 9pm:
Polling stations in Montgomery County will remain open until 9 tonight--an hour later than usual--to accommodate voters who were turned away from the polls this morning because of a glitch that left computerized voting machines across the county inoperable.
Circuit Court Judge Eric M. Johnson issued the order about 2 p.m., in response to a petition by the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
Boxes of automated voting cards that are required to work the electronic machines were mistakenly left behind in a Rockville warehouse in the run-up to Election Day, elections officials said.
Early morning voters were forced to cast provisional, hand-written ballots at Montgomery County's 238 polling places, while election staffers scrambled to deliver the forgotten voting cards as quickly as possible. Several precincts ran out of the paper ballots, and workers from at least one precinct went to a copy shop to make more. Some poll workers, according to witnesses, did not know the provisional ballots were an option and told voters to try again later in the day.
Dude. Fucking Diebold, I swear to Jeebus. More from this diary.
Did any of you guys have primaries today?
Rhode Island's independent-minded Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee confronted stiff opposition Tuesday in his bid for a second term, the latest race with a moderate targeted by his own party's hard-line critics.
Nine states and Washington, D.C., were holding primary elections Tuesday, but Chafee's race has drawn the most attention as another test of the depth of anti-incumbent sentiment and the erosion of the political middle ground.
The R.I. results could ultimately affect which party controls the U.S. Senate.
In Maryland, Democrats were choosing a Senate candidate to go up against Republican Michael Steele, the lieutenant governor. An open House seat in Arizona has drawn a contentious crowd of GOP candidates, as well as several hopefuls on the Democratic side. Minnesota Democrats will pick a candidate for a House seat left open by retiring 14-term Democratic Rep. Martin Sabo.
Many races won't be close, but they will set up important November contests that include Senate seats in Arizona and Minnesota, and the race for governor in Maryland, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Other states holding primaries are Delaware, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont, while the District of Columbia will select mayoral candidates.
Also, I don't know WTF was going on with the voting machines in Maryland today, but voting will remain open until 9pm:
Polling stations in Montgomery County will remain open until 9 tonight--an hour later than usual--to accommodate voters who were turned away from the polls this morning because of a glitch that left computerized voting machines across the county inoperable.
Circuit Court Judge Eric M. Johnson issued the order about 2 p.m., in response to a petition by the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
Boxes of automated voting cards that are required to work the electronic machines were mistakenly left behind in a Rockville warehouse in the run-up to Election Day, elections officials said.
Early morning voters were forced to cast provisional, hand-written ballots at Montgomery County's 238 polling places, while election staffers scrambled to deliver the forgotten voting cards as quickly as possible. Several precincts ran out of the paper ballots, and workers from at least one precinct went to a copy shop to make more. Some poll workers, according to witnesses, did not know the provisional ballots were an option and told voters to try again later in the day.
Dude. Fucking Diebold, I swear to Jeebus. More from this diary.
Did any of you guys have primaries today?