Elkridge Election Judges: 'Slowest It's Ever Been'

Voter turnout was low in Elkridge, according to election officials working the polls at .

“I’ve been doing this since 1996, and this is the slowest I’ve ever seen it,” said Bob Hibbert-R, chief election judge. 

As of 11 a.m. on April 3, the Elkridge precinct had 65 people come in and vote out of a total 1,100 registered voters.

Some of the judges played cards to pass the time when there weren’t any voters, he said.

Hibbert attributed the low turnout to early voting.

“The diligent voters came out for that,” said Hibbert, who worked the polls at the in Columbia during early voting. “There was a steady flow all day.”

Approximately 3.24 percent of voters in Howard County participated in early voting, according to the State Board of Elections.

There wasn’t much drawing people to the polls, said Dan Duholz-D, chief election judge.

“It’s between [Republican presidential candidates Rick] Santorum and [Mitt] Romney is what this election is pretty much about,” said Durholz.

Hibbert added that there weren't many candidates to choose from, and in some instances, there were four choices for four spots. The exception is the Board of Education race, in which 14 people are competing for six spots.

“A school board race is not what some would call a hot-button issue,” said Durholz.

Outside another polling location in Elkridge, things were also quiet.

“It’s slow,” said Bobbi Johnson, handing out flyers on behalf of Circuit Court hopeful Clarke Ahlers outside  and . Polling places for two districts are situated there, but Johnson said only about 200 voters total had turned out by 2 p.m.

“Most people came to vote for one or two people,” said her fellow Ahlers volunteer, a man who asked not to be identified. He said some people had been outside Elkridge Landing that morning campaigning for school board candidates Ellen Flynn Giles and Janet Siddiqui. “Other than that, I don’t know them,” he said of the school board candidates. “But I voted for them.”