Montgomery County wants the public’s input on where it should locate nine early voting centers for next June’s primary elections.
The county got the go-ahead from this year’s Maryland General Assembly to expand its early voting program from five locations to eight and it will seek the option for a ninth. That expansion is due in large part to the success of early voting before last November’s 2012 Presidential election.
But none of the five locations were in the Bethesda area.
Now, the county’s Board of Elections has presented a list of 17 potential early voting sites for voting from June 14 to June 19, 2014. The election is June 24, 2014. The Board will decide which nine sites will be early voting sites and Bethesda and Chevy Chase each have a potential location:
The Board of Elections staff with advice from Board Members has reviewed available facilities across the nearly 500 square mile county and is reviewing sites to make early voting more convenient. The sites under consideration have been chosen based on population centers, geographic balance, and access to public transportation, parking, and other important criteria such as accessibility for persons with disabilities, security of the facility and Maryland State Board of Elections’ regulations.
The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center at 4805 Edgemoor Lane is on the list. It’s one of the only civic spaces in downtown Bethesda.
The Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center at 4301 Willow Lane in the Town of Chevy Chase also a possibility.
Last fall, two of the five early voting centers were in Rockville. One was at the Silver Spring Civic Building in downtown Silver Spring, one was in Burtonsville and the other was in Germantown.
The June primary will feature a slew of intriguing state and local races for county executive, state delegate, state senate, Maryland attorney general, and governor.
Comments can be submitted to elections@montgomerycountymd.gov by Sept. 17. A public hearing is set for 10 a.m. on July 27 at the Board of Elections headquarters in Gaithersburg (18753 N. Frederick Ave.). You may also call the BOE at 240-777-8525 to get put on a list of presenters at a July 29 or Sept. 16 meeting.
Check out the full list of potential early voting sites.
