Maryland primary: 5 things you need to know about the election

The state's primary takes place on the 26 June

The 2018 election cycle is heating up as a round of primaries are taking place on 26 June.

In Maryland that means the governor and several lower seats are up for grabs as the Democratic Party continues its bid to win Congress back from Donald Trump and the Republicans.

Logistics

To participate in the state’s primary you must have registered by 5 June.

To vote in partisan races, voters had to register as a Democrat or Republican, but other party affiliated voters can cast ballots in nonpartisan races such as those for school boards.

Polling places can be looked up on the Board of Elections site.

There are several online voting guides to help familiarise voters with issues before heading into the booth.

A valid form of identification is required and can be in the form of a state driver’s license, state issued ID card, passport, student or military ID. A current utility bill or pay stub listing your name and address also works. Those without identification can request a provisional ballot, which will be counted once the information is verified.

The major race for governor

Incumbent Governor Larry Hogan is running for a second term at the helm this year. Though a Republican, he is considered a moderate and worked to put distance between himself and Donald Trump on issues like healthcare and gun control. His popularity is a pleasant surprise for a state that is considered to be largely Democrat and has voted that way for decades in presidential elections.

Going against Mr Hogan are eight Democrats. Perhaps the best-known candidate is Ben Jealous, former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).

He has managed to get endorsement from Senators Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris and is seen as the progressive challenger to established Democrats in the state, part of a national movement this year to make the party more diverse, inclusive, and less reliant on corporate contributions which wield influence.

However, candidate Rushern Baker polled at a relatively close second. The official from Prince George’s county, which borders the eastern half of Washington DC, has won the endorsement of former Democratic Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and is seen as having closer ties to the establishment wing of the party.

Who are other candidates?

While Maryland is seen as a reliably blue state, there is one red Republican pocket and Democrats are looking to change that in voting booths along the Eastern Shore part of the state.

Andy Harris has been the Republican Representative in the US House for eight years and has not faced a real challenge in that time.

Unlike other parts of the state, the Eastern Shore is predominately white and voted for Mr Trump by 29 per cent in the 2016 election.

What Mr Harris faces now is not just his vote against Obamacare, and that only 26 per cent of Maryland voters are registered Republicans, but also that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made his seat a target and throwing political weight behind challengers like Jesse Colvin, a former Army intelligence officer, who has raised a large amount of money. Five other Democrats are challenging Mr Colvin for the nomination.

The sixth Congressional district of the state, running from the suburbs of DC to the western border with Pennsylvania is an open US House seat - four Republicans and eight Democrats are vying for it.

As far as Senate seats go, well-established Democratic Senator Ben Cardin is running for re-election.

Mr Cardin is expected to win, taking 61 per cent in a recent poll, but is still being challenged by first-time candidate Chelsea Manning.

The former US Army intelligence analyst who was convicted in 2013 for the largest leak of classified information in history moved to Rockville after Barack Obama commuted her sentence. Though attention focused on her Senate bid, she has not been able to challenge Mr Cardin’s $4m in contributions and 30 years of experience.

Why is voter turnout so high this year?

Voter turnout in primaries promises to be high across the board, but particularly for Democrats as tensions with Mr Trump and the Republicans grows every day. “Democrats are energised and they’re ready to send a message,” said Fabion Seaton, a spokesman for the Maryland Democratic Party, speaking to the Baltimore Sun.

Early voting has seen a 55 per cent increase in turnout over the 2014 primaries, the last non-presidential election.

As of last week, more than 170,000 voters had already cast early ballots, but experts warn this is not an indicator of winners since early voting is usually pushed far more by Democrats than Republicans.

Will the computer glitch affect voting?

After the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration failed to send updated voter rolls to the Board of Elections, almost 19,000 voters are required to fill out provisional ballots in order to participate in the primaries.

The agencies called it a “computer programming error” affecting any voters who updated their addresses between 22 April 2017 and 5 June 2018, as the Washington Post reported.

In total 18,700 changed their addresses and 7,300 changed their party affiliation.

There are efforts to contact all voters impacted by the error, but concerns were raised since the problem was discovered only three days before the primary.