Across Maryland this Election Day there have been widespread reports of “vote flipping,” where the voting machines automatically switch votes from a Republican candidate to the Democrat. So far, 25 machines have been taken out of commission due to these problems.
A breakdown of where the defective machines are located is not yet available, but 10 were from Anne Arundel County, where Democrats only have a 23,000-registration advantage out of nearly 270,000 registered voters. Statewide, Democrats have a 2-to-1 registration advantage.
With one of the closest and most contentious gubernatorial races in the country, Maryland unexpectedly found itself in the national spotlight this year. The president, the first lady, and Bill and Hillary Clinton have all come to the traditionally blue state to stump for Democrat Anthony Brown, while Republican Larry Hogan has hosted New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie four times. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
This race was expected to be a walk for Brown, the state’s lieutenant governor and possibly the first African-American elected governor in a reliable Democratic state with a large African-American population. Polls over the summer showed Brown with a sustained double-digit lead, but over the past two weeks that lead has evaporated. The latest numbers had Hogan trailing within the margin or error, with the latest showing Hogan leading by a five-point margin.