Maryland's most important presidential primary in years went into overtime yesterday, as freezing rain throughout the state forced elections officials to keep the polls open 90 minutes late so that traffic-bound citizens could cast their ballots.
Voters slid into polling places late into the evening, casting provisional paper ballots after the original closing time of 8 p.m. In some precincts, election officials didn't get the word that an Anne Arundel County judge had ordered the polls open late and turned voters away.
Bob Barczak said he was turned away from the polls at Riderwood Elementary School about 8:30 p.m. because election administrators at the school had not been notified that the polls were to remain open.
Barczak heard the news on the radio, but election officials did not believe him and did not call the state election board to check.
"They said they don't have a number to call, and I can't believe that, he said. "My rights are gone because they won't pick up the phone and call."
Patricia Firey was turned away along with Barczak. A custodian told them they were not the first would-be voters to be sent home.
At the Enoch Pratt Free Library's Central library just before 9 p.m., there were five poll workers but no voters.
"We're not happy campers," said Keith Konajeski, the chief Republican judge. He estimated the extended hours would mean that he and his fellow poll workers would not get home until midnight. He had been up since 4 a.m. to ready the polling place.
The clearly tired workers predicted no one would show up. "On paper, it sounds nice," said Carrie Daniels, the election judge. "But in reality, nobody comes, nobody hears about the lateness."
But just as she was finishing her thought, a voter walked in from the cold, saying her boyfriend had just told her about the extended hours. Another late voter came right behind. They both began filling out provisional paper ballots - even though nine electronic voting machines sat ready and idle.
Konajeski, the Republican judge, said that under the rules, late ballots would be considered provisional and would be counted only if they would make a difference.
Alana Little, 35, of Mount Vernon, who works in Arlington, Va., as marketing manager, said she had to work late and was "very upset" at the prospect of not being able to cast her ballot for Barack Obama. When her boyfriend picked her up from the train at Penn Station, she said, she was happy to learn that voting hours had been extended.
Kevin Sulin, 43, a computer support specialist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, said he had come to cast his ballot for Hillary Clinton.
Officials said a total of four voters cast ballots at the polling place between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., when it closed. That brought the total number of voters at the Pratt yesterday to above the 500 mark - 503 to be exact - which workers described as an unusually high turnout.
The last-minute scrambling by elections officials capped a week of intense campaigning in Maryland by candidates from both parties. Maryland held its presidential primary in February for the first time, the result of efforts by state leaders to make sure the state had a more prominent role in the selection of presidential candidates. With the nominees of both parties still uncertain, candidates courted voters here more ardently than they had in years.
Opinion polls had suggested that the state would be won easily by Democrat Obama and Republican John McCain, but many voters said the decision was not easy.
Renita Chilton, a Baltimore Democrat, said she had to appeal to a higher plane of consciousness to make her choice.
"I was in meditation this morning, and the name Obama just comes to my mind," Chilton said.
And although the Republican nomination was all but decided for McCain before Marylanders went to the polls, many in the GOP said they, too, were torn.
Dennis Raschka, a Republican in Columbia, said he voted for McCain, but without joy.
"He's the least objectionable," Raschka said.
Former Mitt Romney supporter Abigail Randall said she cast a reluctant vote for McCain. "I guess I feel like he's got the best shot at beating one of the Democrats," said the Canton homemaker. "Mike Huckabee is a little too conservative for me, a little scary."
Some Democratic women said they didn't want to pass up a chance to vote for one of their own but had been inspired by the soaring rhetoric of the senator from Illinois.
Julia Evins, a graphic designer, said she had been "very conflicted about this election" before showing up to vote at First English Lutheran Church in Guilford.
"I really like Obama, but I voted for Hillary Clinton because it's the first time in my life that I've had the opportunity to vote for a woman," said Evins, who brought her 4-month-old daughter, Silvie, to the polls. "My first vote with my baby daughter should be one that matters."
The common denominator for voters across the state - especially Democrats - was enthusiasm.
"The line has been unbelievable - this feels more like a general election, not a primary," said Alease Ferguson, an election judge at Randallstown High School. "People want to be a part of this history. No matter who it is, Obama or Hillary. History is being made, and people have more [of] a drive to make sure they are a part of the change."
nick.madigan@baltsun.com gadi.decter@baltsun.com
Sun reporters Gina Davis and Tyeesha Dixon contributed to this article.