More tomorrow but Maryland voters were disenfranchised due to technical problems... (new electronic pollbooks and statewide voter database). 

Technical failures were made worse by the fact that our Election Board has refused to implement a simple policy of providing enough paper ballots for voters in each precinct so they can vote when the system is down.   We've been advocating for this common sense back up for two years. 

Major problems: Montgomery County precinct openings were delayed by 45 minutes to three hours because machine boot-up cards were missing from an estimated 180 precincts.  This and technical problems with the new e-pollbooks ('replacing' check-in judges) caused some judges to give voters provisional paper ballots.  We heard many reports of precincts out of paper ballots causing untold numbers of voters to give up and leave without casting ballots.

Delays were so widespread that Montgomery and BAltimore polls were kept open an hour extra - til 9pm.  However, Greg Smith reports that at Piney Branch Elementary School in Takoma Park, resourceful election judges had to READ THE LIST OF CANDIDATES out load while voters wrote their selections ON SCRAPS OF PAPER.  System Cost: over $100 million.

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