North Potomac, Darnestown Polls See Low Morning Turnout

North Potomac and Darnestown voters who planned to avoid the typical morning rush by voting in the afternoon or evening will be disappointed, as area voting precincts were frequented by only a handful of people during the morning hours of Maryland's primary election.

Chief election judges at (precinct 06-04), (06-01), Quince Orchard Library (06-13) and (06-09) all reported low voter turnout Tuesday morning.

"We're up to a whopping 21," QO Library's Chief Election Judge Lisa Goodman said at approximately 8:15 a.m. The library had seen a few groups of three people, but nothing more at one time.

The library is hosting its first election after the old location, the Christian Life Center on Darnestown Road, closed in February. The precinct's approximate 1,800 voters live within Quince Orchard, Muddy Branch, and Darnestown Roads.

Our Lady of Visitation Parish only saw 51 of its registered 2,860 as of 9:45 a.m.

"It's a small turnout, it's slow," Chief Election Judge Paul Klee said. "But there's early voting and it's a primary."

Klee's co-chief, Steve D'Alessio, said the church saw no morning rush and Montgomery County Public Schools' spring break is creating a lower voter turnout.

Ron Wohl, the Democratic precinct chair for DuFief Elementary (06-04), said there's very little political push where people are taking a strong interest and its showing up in the area's voter turnout. 

But North Potomac resident Marcie Forster, 59, still submitted her vote first thing in the morning at DuFief, supporting Sen. Rob Garagiola for Congressional District 6, Fred Evans for Board of Education District 2 and Phil Kaufman for Board of Education At-Large.

At Jones Lane Elementary, Darnestown resident Lisa Watts voted for Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary, calling him "the lesser of the evils."

Watts also voted for Robin Ficker in the sixth district congressional primary.

"He's a local person," Watts said. "And I don't like Roscoe Bartlett. He needs to be moving on. He's too old and we need fresh ideas."