President. An open U.S. Senate seat. All of Maryland’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. Enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution, and ballot questions that will shape both Baltimore City and County for the coming decades.
Voters in the Baltimore region had plenty to decide on Tuesday. The WYPR news team spread out across the city and county to talk with them as they hit the polls. Here’s what they had to say.
Bright And Early
At Perry Hall High School in Baltimore County, about 100 people were waiting in line when the doors opened at 7pm. Dorcia Gray got there about an hour before the polls opened to be first in line. “I tried to do early voting and that didn’t help,” she said. “I saw how the lines were. So I just wanted to make sure I got here early enough where I didn’t have to wait in long lines and I could just, you know, get in, cast my vote and do my part.”
After casting her vote at the CC Jackson Recreation Center in Baltimore city, Krista Smith decided to show her appreciation for those making the election process possible. Smith delivered juices, teas and bagels to election workers. “Wish I can be here to actually work the election,” said Smith. “I work at the police department, so I don't have the commitment to make the entire day. So I wanted to come in and show support in another way. I'm off today. Figured I would bring them some food and could give back that way. I don't have the time, but I have the resources.”
She said it took about five minutes to vote but she knew the election workers would be facing a long day ahead.
Elwin Wordlaw cast his vote for the first time today at Tuscarora High School in Frederick County. With over 100 people standing in line, Wordlaw said he had only seen a few other people his age. While Wordlaw had seen the presidential candidates all over social media, he said schools could do more to encourage students to vote. “Putting things in the schools so when you’re (there) you can see just how important it is so when you do become of age that you’ll go out and vote,” Worldlaw told WYPR. “The changes that we want to see be made, the only way that those things are going to happen is if we go vote”
Christian England voted for the first time in East Baltimore. “It felt nice, it felt good,” he told WYPR. “I feel this election is very high stakes for the country in the way we move forward and that’s why I came to vote.”
Mariah Walker pulled up to Lakeland Elementary and Middle School playing Beyonce’s song “Ya Ya” in her car. She describes it as her ‘voting pump up music.’ “Beyonce just influenced me in every aspect of my life, but that song particularly speaks in regards to the blood in tears that was sweat to build America and make it an equal and fair country.” She says she’s supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president today out of concern for the future of social safety net programs. “I am not currently on any public benefits, but it has benefited me and my family and allowed us to make ends meet at some point in my life, and just in case, in the future, I would like to be able to have access to those benefits.”
Abortion
Question 1 on the ballot would, if approved, enshrine the right to abortion in the Maryland state constitution. Abortion is already legal in the state, but Democrats in the General Assembly and Governor Wes Moore sought to add another protection - while also creating something that could drive more voters to the polls. And abortion was top of mind for many voters who spoke with WYPR reporters Tuesday.
Jordan Walker is a first-year social work graduate student at Morgan State University. Protecting her reproductive rights was her biggest issue. “After the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, I just want to make sure that I have access to things that are simple, just like birth control.” Walker added she’s also excited to vote for Kamala Harris as a fellow member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
Alicia Chapman of McElderry Park says abortion rights were one of the main reasons she came out to vote. “No one can tell me what to do with my body,” Chapman told WYPR. “No one has the right to tell a woman what she should or shouldn’t do with her body.”
On a normal Tuesday, Jacquette Beard would be teaching English at a high school in Prince George’s County. But on this day she was busy casting her ballot at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School in South Baltimore, with the right to an abortion on the top of her mind - not just for her, but also her students. “I just can't imagine not having that opportunity. Even if you don't use it or it's not necessary for you, you still have to support those people. So just being a woman, I can't believe I have to vote about my body.”
Heather Wagner voted at Tuscarora High School in Frederick County. “I’m concerned about my right to abortion,” she said to WYPR. “That was something my mother and grandmother were born into and it was a right that was taken away from me. I’m an educated woman. I’m considering starting a family in the next few years, and I want to make sure I have all the best health care options available to me.”
Election Integrity
Former President Donald Trump has been sowing doubt about the election process, just as he did in 2020. Wagner said she had confidence in the voting system and that it had been proven to be tried and true.
Rob Pollack, who was waiting in line to vote this morning at Perry Hall High School, says he has faith in election officials. Pollack says his brother is an election judge. “And he was skeptical at first. He said he was so impressed by the process that he is 100% faith in it. And he’s a skeptic and when they won him over with the classes and what he had to go through it was encouraging.”
City Council and Harborplace
In Baltimore City, the future of the Inner Harbor and Harborplace is on the ballot. Question F if approved will open the Inner Harbor to residential development as part of a new plan for Harborplace that includes two apartment towers. Mike Hardesty lives a few blocks from the Harbor, and outside his polling place at Christ Church Harbor Apartments, Hardesty said he voted ‘yes’ - even with some reservations. “But the city, for decades, has lost its tax base. It needs more residents. It needs (more) tax base. A billion dollars getting shoveled into the city is probably going to be helpful. So it's not perfect, it's not great, but probably a good idea.”
Park Heights resident, Krista Smith, worries that if Question F passes, city residents will lose accessibility and affordability. “I don’t believe a regular resident would be able to have a home there,” Smith said to WYPR after voting at the CC Jackson Recreation Center. “And that’s what concerns me. I want to make sure the residents here have an opportunity to have a property on the water. But it doesn’t seem like that would really happen. I would like to see it be developed, but also make sure that we have access to it as well.”
Question H meanwhile would shrink the Baltimore city council from its current size of 14 members down to just 8. Otterbein resident Shayla Ellington voted Tuesday morning at the Christ Church Harbor Apartments building. “I voted for that. I feel like you don't need so many hands in it. It makes it more complicated to get things done. So yes, I voted for him to be able to shrink it.”
The push to get Question H on the ballot was nearly entirely funded by conservative media mogul David Smith, who lives in Baltimore County and co-owns the Baltimore Sun and is chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, the parent company for Fox 45 in Baltimore.
