Voting Appears Robust Across D.C. Area

The Senate races in both Virginia and Maryland are too close to call, based on recent polls, and each contest is considered critical to deciding whether Republicans will retain their majority in the U.S. Senate. Political observers said turnout efforts will be key. In both states, absentee ballots were cast by more voters than ever before.

Ehrlich campaigned in Prince George's County this morning, where copies of the controversial flier were being circulated outside some polling stations. The fliers, labeled "Ehrlich-Steele Democrats Official Voters Guide" included a "Democratic sample ballot" with the names of Ehrlich and Steele -- both Republicans -- checked off alongside several other Republicans and a host of Democrats for lesser office. Neither O'Malley nor Cardin are listed.

Fort Washington resident Barry Cyrus, 39, said he saw people passing out the ballots at his precinct, and met a first-time voter who was using the ballot to "vote for the Democratic party."

"She pulled out this sample ballot where Ehrlich and Steele were listed as Democrats. If I hadn't talked to her, she might have voted for them," said Cyrus, who said he stopped at five other polling places and saw the fliers being distributed at two of them. "People just need to be fair and not try to sway people with deception."

In the District, where voters are overwhelmingly registered Democrats, Ward 4 Council member Adrian Fenty (4) was expected to easily defeat the Republican and Statehood Green Party candidates to be the next mayor of the nation's capital, and Ward 7 Council member Vincent Gray (D) was unopposed in his bid for council chair.

If elected, Fenty has vowed to launch an "aggressive" transition . Voters also will decide several other council and school board seats , including the next president of the board of education. Despite a general lack of tight races, turnout at the polls was heavy, with some precincts running out of ballots by late morning and requesting new supplies.

O'Malley, a Montgomery County native, began his day voting in Baltimore, then came to Fallsmead Elementary School in Rockville to escort his mother to the polls. He said early-morning voting in Baltimore had gone much smoother than on primary day, with only 13 of the city's 400 polling places opening late, compared to 72 in the primary.

"The last-minute message is, everyone needs to go out and vote," O'Malley said.

At the Montgomery County school board office, voters overwhelmingly said they were voting for all the Democratic candidates, in a concerted effort to shift the balance of power in national politics.

"This is the first time I've voted for a Democratic slate in 25 years," said Jeff Hudgens, 57, a research chemist. "I just see the Republicans as being too extremely right and too extremely out of touch with what Americans want today."

In Silver Spring, voter Karen Jackson said she was most concerned about the Senate race, and felt that Steele took the votes of his fellow African Americans for granted.

"I just didn't like the way Michael Steele presented himself," said Jackson, who is black but voted for Cardin. "The fact that he's black so I should just vote for him, I didn't agree."