Virginia absentee ballots up sharply over 2000

Virginia’s State Board of Elections says more than 223,000 Virginians requested mail-in absentee ballots by the deadline Thursday.

That’s about 73,000 more than the number of absentee ballots cast in the presidential election four years ago, and it doesn’t include in-person absentee voting, which ran through Saturday.

More than 141,000 Virginians have cast their absentee ballots, either by mail or in person. All absentee ballots must be in by the time polls close at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Jean Jensen, secretary of the state Board of Elections, said the heavy demand for absentee ballots points to voter turnout that could top 70 percent. Four years ago, 68.5 percent of Virginia’s registered voters went to the polls.

mPopular Schaefer

Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer remains popular in Maryland, even though he has come under fire in recent months for remarks that some viewed as insensitive to immigrants and people with AIDS.

A poll conducted last week for the Baltimore Sun by Ipsos-Public Affairs said Maryland voters approve of the job Mr. Schaefer, a Democrat, is doing by a ratio of almost 2-to-1. But Democrats are divided about whether he should step aside. Forty-six percent of Democrats say he should step down, and 43 percent say he shouldn’t.

The telephone survey of 602 registered voters was conducted last Monday and Tuesday and has a margin of error of four percentage points.

mO’Malley ahead

A new poll suggests that a majority of Maryland voters would like to see Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley in the governor’s office.

The poll was conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs of Washington for the Baltimore Sun and said if the gubernatorial election were held today, Mr. O’Malley would defeat Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., 51 percent to 44 percent.

Mr. Ehrlich — Maryland’s first Republican governor in more than three decades — remains popular with voters. The poll shows that 59 percent of voters approve of the job he is doing. However, Maryland voter registration skews heavily Democratic.

Mr. Ehrlich told the Sun he is braced for a tough campaign and hopes his record will persuade voters to keep him in office.

In a potential matchup with Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, the poll gives Mr. Ehrlich 49 percent of the vote, compared with 45 percent for Mr. Duncan, but that tally falls within the poll’s margin of error.

The poll of 602 registered voters was conducted last Monday and Tuesday and has a margin of error of four percentage points.

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