Nearly 10,000 ballots have been cast in Wayne County before polls open Tuesday, Nov. 6, for the traditional Election Day.
Absentee in-person voting started in the Wayne County Clerk’s Voters Registration office on Oct. 10, and voters could go last week to four voting centers around the county.
A total of 9,558 voters have cast their ballots in person at a polling site.
Voters have cast:
3,404 ballots at Kuhlman Center (861 Salisbury Road N.)
2,439 at First English Lutheran Church (2727 E. Main St., Richmond)
836 at Golay Community Center (1007 E. Main St., Cambridge City)
916 at New Testament Church of Christ (752 W. Main St., Hagerstown)
and 1,963 at the courthouse.
Doris Williams, who serves as inspector at Golay Community Center’s vote center, said turnout was good for early voting.
“We want to get as many early as we can,” Williams said. “We’ve had steady turnout despite the rain.”
Linda and Larry Lewis, who live near Abington, were pleased to learn they could vote in Cambridge City on Friday afternoon.
Linda is a home care nurse who works in Cambridge City. She and Larry stopped at the annual holiday bazaar at Golay and were pleasantly surprised they could vote there instead of going to Kuhlman Center on Richmond’s west side before heading home.
Linda said she and Larry always vote. She said they’re pretty conservative, and those issues are what really spurred them this time to cast their ballots.
Golay poll worker Susie Gabbard called it an “excellent week” for voter turnout.
“It was steadily busy but not overwhelming,” Gabbard said. “The rain didn’t slow us down too much.”
Debbie Berry, Wayne County clerk, told local media Saturday that the turnout for early voting had been good.
“Things started out on the fast track, and we added more voting machines at First English Lutheran and the Kuhlman Center so that voters would not have to wait in long lines,” Berry said. “Throughout the week, voting has been consistent.”
On Tuesday, four additional voting locations for Election Day are being added. They are: First Baptist Church, 1601 S A St., Richmond; Mt. Olive Baptist Church, 1108 N H St., Richmond; Centerville Christian Church Family Center, 106 E Main St., Centerville; and Wesleyan Church, 5600 U.S. 27 N. in Fountain City.
Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Voters must be standing in line at 6 p.m. to be able to cast a ballot after that time.
There is no voting at the courthouse on Election Day.
– By Millicent Martin Emery