by Geoff Fox 
The Washington County Board of Elections has announced the three sites for early voting in the 2024 election. Despite earlier consideration, Hancock is not one of those locations.
Last Wednesday, February 28, the Board of Elections announced three locations for early voting in the upcoming primary election.
The primary takes place on Tuesday, May 14, but early voting takes place beginning Thursday, May 2, through Thursday, May 9, between 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The locations for early voting are Washington County Election Center in Hagerstown (17718 Virginia Avenue, Hagerstown), Smithsburg Branch of the Washington County Free Library (66 W. Water Street, Smithsburg), and American Legion Clopper-Michael Post 10 in Boonsboro (710 N. Main Street, Boonsboro).
Each location is roughly 30 miles from Hancock.
Last September, the Washington County Board of Elections held a voting session to select early voting sites in Washington County. Hancock Town Hall had been approved to be one of the three locations.
The Election Center in Hagerstown was also approved, and county commissioners and the State Board of Elections would later approve the Boonsboro American Legion site.
In November, in a virtual meeting lasting less than 10 minutes, the State Board of Elections voted 3-2 against having Hancock Town Hall as an early voting site despite “quite a bit” of requests to comment on the matter. Officials noted those comments were in favor of the Hancock site.
After the November vote, there was talk of a lawsuit to bring the site in Hancock, but the Smithsburg site emerged as the final early voting site.
Hancock Town Manager Mike Faith said Washington County Commissioner Derek Harvey was heavily involved in the suit with Adam Greivell as the lawyer. Faith said the Town of Hancock was not part of the suit.
County Commissioner and Hancock resident Wayne Keefer said the history of getting an early voting site in Hancock goes back to the previous election two years ago when the early voting sites were selected.
There had to be two sites based on the number of registered voters in Washington County. Those sites were at the Board of Elections Center and the Fletcher Branch of the Washington County Free Library in downtown Hagerstown. Those two sites are two miles apart.
The thought last election cycle was why have the two sites so close together instead of spreading it out within the county more fairly, Keefer said.
The Washington County Board of Elections does not need the County Commissioners’ approval for those two sites but adding a third did need approval.
“My understanding of how the law reads is that based on population, and the threshold is 100,000 registered voters, you are required to have two early voting sites,” Keefer said. “At that point, you can have one additional early voting site if your local county commissioners agree to it.”
In the current cycle, the Board of Elections came to the county commissioners with what they wanted to do – have an early voting site at the Virginia Avenue location and Town of Hancock, with Boonsboro as the third.
The Election Board was a 3-2 vote and a unanimous vote by the commissioners for the three sites.
At the time, Keefer noted the three sites would have 10-mile radiuses and covered pretty much all of the county except a couple towns in the southern part.
Keefer said he himself supports voting on Election Day and absentee ballots for those who are ill or out of town. He said he believes early voting could lead to election errors.
If early voting is needed, Keefer said Hancock does need to be covered as he doesn’t think it’s fair where there are no early voting sites west of Interstate 81.
“That’s not fair to Hancock. That’s not fair to Clear Spring,” Keefer said. “All three early voting sites in Washington County are east of I-81. That’s not fair to Hancock.”
The site in Smithsburg is further away from Hancock than Hagerstown.
By having those sites spread around the county based on geography, it makes the voting fairer to all residents and allows for more access.
Keefer said, in his opinion, the Smithsburg location is not an acceptable location for the people of Hancock.
“The next best thing for Hancock is not an early voting site in Smithsburg,” Keefer said.
Keefer was not involved in the discussion on where the site would be located, however the county commissioners were represented in the mediation between the county and state election boards.
Keefer said Clear Spring, Williamsport, and Maugansville are all west of I-81 and weren’t picked as early voting sites either.
Having no early voting site west of I-81 should make Hancock and Clear Spring residents mad, Keefer said.
He said Hancock’s Town Hall should be submitted every year for early voting each election cycle.
When asked if he anticipates a fight each time, he said it’s certainly possible to happen again.
If the number of registered voters goes up in Washington County, a third required site could be added next cycle with a fourth for approval by commissioners.
Hancock residents are less likely to vote early, with the selected locations of voting centers, said Keefer.
“They have to go to work, they have to pick up their kids from school or from ball practice, drive a minimum of 28 miles, I guess, to go early vote in Hagerstown, or 40 in Smithsburg if they’re up for the trek,” he said.
Keefer said the centers’ location unfairly lessens the opportunity for Hancock residents to early vote compared to those east of I-81.
“If you can’t make it to early voting because the distance is too far to drive, please do what you can to make to the polls on Election Day in Hancock,” Keefer said. “You can still vote in Hancock, but you’ll have to do it on Election Day.”
Keefer said the decisions made were an example of not understanding how geographically unique Hancock is in the state of Maryland in that is a “great distance” for residents to travel to their county seat. That should have been taken into consideration at the state level.
“I am very disappointed that Hancock was not kept as an early voting site and I just do not believe Smithsburg was an acceptable alternative,” Keefer said. “It does make me question was this truly about helping bring an early voting site to Hancock or what I believe, this was more about keeping an early voting site out of Hagerstown and what was accomplished in the end was of no greater benefit to the residents of Hancock.”
Town Manager Mike Faith said having an early voting location in Hancock is just a question of fairness.
One of the original arguments made in having a second site located in downtown Hagerstown was to be more convenient for residents in that town.
“I really felt that they should look at the county geographically, not necessarily on how many registered Republicans, or Democrats, or Independents are in a certain area,” he said. “They should look at making early voting as convenient as possible to as many people in the county.”
Having that early voting site in Hancock would serve that purpose and give people in Big Pool and on the western side of Clear Spring a closer early voting location.
Faith said there’s a feeling that anything west of Hagerstown doesn’t really count.
Having access in Hancock to early voting might help those traveling during election season or those unable to get to the polls on Election Day.
Faith said the facility at Town Hall was, he thought, set up “really well.” He also thought it would help increase participation in Hancock.
He said there could be people in Hancock who would have trouble in getting to Hagerstown, where as they can walk or get a quick ride to Town Hall.
The County Board of Elections voted to put the early voting site in Hancock, but the State Board of Elections got involved and said, “no,” Faith said.
“And the compromise was Smithsburg,” Faith said with a laugh. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Faith wasn’t sure if Clear Spring was considered for the compromise or if it has a facility that would be able to handle the early voting site.
One thing that made the Hancock location attractive, Faith said, was the Police Department was right next door to where the early voting would take place.
While there are larger populations in Smithsburg, Hagerstown, and Boonsboro, Faith said if wanting to make early voting inclusive and convenient, you’d have to look at geographically.
Faith said Hancock might not have gotten the early voting site this election cycle but could be in good shape to get one next cycle.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t get it, but we fought the good fight, didn’t prevail this time,” Faith said. “Next time it comes up for discussion again, we’ll push to get that site in Hancock.”
