Five Names, Two Votes: What to Know Before Tomorrow

An independent delegate works for you, listens to you, and answers to no party caucus. How to vote Tuesday, what you will see on the 9A ballot, and what…

Tomorrow is Election Day. Before you vote, here is the one thing I want you to know about me. If you send me to Annapolis, I will work for you. Not for a party, not for a caucus, not for leadership. The people of District 9A will be the only people I answer to. Here is what you need to know for tomorrow, and why I'm asking for one of your two votes for Delegate. How to vote tomorrow Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. You vote at your assigned polling place, and the State Board of Elections polling place lookup will show you where it is along with your ballot. If you are in line by 8 p.m., you can vote. If you have a mail ballot, put it in a drop box by 8 p.m. or mail it with a November 3 postmark. If you asked for a mail ballot but would rather vote in person, you can. You will cast a provisional ballot. What you will see For House of Delegates, District 9A, there are five names and you can vote for two: two Democrats, two Republicans, and me. I am the last name, listed Unaffiliated. District 9A covers Ellicott City, Clarksville, Woodbine and western Howard County, plus Damascus and Clarksburg in Montgomery County. Who I would answer to Here is how a caucus works. Each party's delegates meet as a caucus. The caucus sets priorities and recommends how members should vote, and leadership decides which bills get a hearing and which get a vote. That is how parties keep their members together, and it is why two delegates from the same caucus usually vote as one. I will not be in that room. Nobody will hand me a vote recommendation before I have read the bill. The people who decide what I do will be the people I hear from in Ellicott City, Clarksville, Woodbine, Damascus and Clarksburg. Answering to no caucus does not mean working alone. I will work with Democrats and Republicans…