Dear Neighbors:
Here are a few updates before Election Day tomorrow. If you haven’t already voted, make sure you have a plan for doing so.
ELECTIONS
As I think most people are aware by now, here in Takoma Park we have two ballots: one for our local Mayor and City Council elections and then the State/County ballot which includes the elections for President, U.S. House of Representatives, Montgomery County School Board, Judges, and several referendums. Every Takoma Park registered voter should have received their local election ballot in the mail -- if you didn’t, contact the Board of Elections at elections@takomaparkmd.gov. You can deposit your ballot at the City drop boxes located at the Community Center (lower parking level) and the New Hampshire Avenue Recreation Center. There’s also a County/State ballot drop box at the Community Center.
City voters with questions or concerns about their local ballots can stop by the Community Center until 6:00 PM today (at the lower parking level) to speak with someone from the Board of Elections and/or to obtain a ballot if you don’t already have one. There will also be drive-through/walk-through in-person voting (Mayor and City Council only) at the Community Center on Election Day from 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM. This is for residents who didn’t receive ballots or who otherwise decide to vote in person. There’s early voting in-person today for the State/County ballot at the Silver Spring Civic Center until 8:00 PM, and in-person voting tomorrow also at the Civic Center from 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM. You can see details on other Montgomery County voting sites here: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Elections/VotingServices/vote-centers-2020.html
The Takoma Park voter turnout levels have been very high, which is great news. Over 1,000 ballots have already been submitted in Ward One, and over 4,500 City-wide. In the 2017 election there was a total of a little over 2600 votes, so we’re already experiencing a roughly 70 percent increase. You can see the current number of already-cast ballots broken down by Ward, along with live streaming of the Board of Elections initial ballot processing here: https://takomaparkmd.gov/news/city-election-information/. The local election results will be officially certified by the Board at a Council meeting on November 12. The election winners will be formally sworn in on November 16, and the first regular meeting of the new Council will be on November 18. I’ll provide more details on those events in a future message.
COVID UDPATE
The Takoma Park COVID-19 Dashboard has been updated with data through October 30. Some key data spotlighted by City staff:
· 1 new death reported
· 16 new cases reported
· Infection rate held steady at 3.9%, compared to the County rate of 2.5%
· There’s a new graph showing cases by day
Note that the hours for the Wednesday COVID testing at Washington Adventist University/ Sligo Adventist Church have shifted to an hour earlier because of daylight savings. The hours are now 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This past Wednesday, another 148 people were tested at this site, for a total of 454 tested. For additional information on County testing go to the testing website, and for details on testing sites and schedules use this link: www.MoCoCOVIDTesting.org.
Please stay safe and vote if you haven’t already.
Peter Kovar, Takoma Park City Council, Ward One
240-319-6281; www.councilmemberkovar.com
(He, Him, His)
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