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Is voting passé in Chevy Chase?
Voter turnout in Chevy Chase on Election Day was not as good as average voter turnout across the county and state.
Of Chevy Chase's 21,823 registered voters, 12,176 of them (55.79 percent) cast ballots on Election Day 2012 (according to unofficial precinct results published on the Montgomery County Board of Elections website).
Compare that to the statewide voter turnout average of 69.04 percent, according to unofficial results from the Maryland State Board of Elections. (The unofficial results do not include absentee or provisional ballots.)
Montgomery County's Election Day voter turnout—66.13 percent of registered voters—also was less than the statewide average, but still was better than Chevy Chase's voter turnout. In fact, no county in Maryland had a lower unofficial voter turnout than Chevy Chase, according to the unofficial results.
The Chevy Chase precinct with the highest registered voter turnout was precinct 07-21 (which votes at the Chevy Chase United Methodist Church)—60.26 percent of registered voters in that precinct cast ballots on Election Day.
Second place for voter turnout went to precinct 07-02 (which votes at Chevy Chase Village Hall)—58.61 percent of its registered voters voted on Nov. 6.
The Chevy Chase precinct with the lowest voter turnout was precinct 07-26, which votes at the Friendship Heights Village Center. Of that precinct's 4,053 registered voters, 53.15 percent cast ballots on Election Day. (This precinct is also the largest of Chevy Chase's nine precincts.)
Here are the unofficial turnout numbers for Chevy Chase's precincts on Election Day (according to the Montgomery County Board of Elections website):
| Precinct | Registered voters | Ballots cast | Percent of registered voters casting ballots on Election Day 2012 |
| 07-02 | 2,259 | 1,324 | 58.61% |
| 07-05 | 2,277 | 1,281 | 56.26% |
| 07-06 | 2,489 | 1,424 | 57.21% |
| 07-11 | 3,501 | 1,939 | 55.38% |
| 07-16 | 2,080 | 1,198 | 57.60% |
| 07-21 | 1,331 | 802 | 60.26% |
| 07-26 | 4,053 | 2,154 | 53.15% |
| 07-32 | 1,482 | 799 | 53.91% |
| 13-39 | 2,351 | 1,255 | 53.38% |
| Totals | 21,823 | 12,176 | 55.79% |
Voting locations:
- 07-02: Chevy Chase Village Hall
- 07-05: Rollingwood School Center, also known as the Lycee Rochambeau French International School
- 07-06: Chevy Chase Elementary School
- 07-11: Somerset Elementary School
- 07-16: North Chevy Chase Elementary School
- 07-26: Friendship Heights Village Center
- 07-21: Chevy Chase United Methodist Church
- 07-32: Chevy Chase Library
- 13-39: Rock Creek Forest Elementary School
See how Chevy Chase's precincts voted on the candidates and ballot questions.
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Why do you think Chevy Chase's voter turnout was lower than the average voter turnout across the state and county? Tell us in the comments.
In This article
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Friendship Heights Village Center
4433 S Park Ave, Chevy Chase, MD -
Chevy Chase Village Hall
5906 Connecticut Ave, Chevy Chase, MD -
Lycee Rochambeau French International School
3200 Woodbine St, Chevy Chase, MD -
Chevy Chase Elementary School
4015 Rosemary St, Chevy Chase, MD -
Somerset Elementary School
5811 Warwick Pl, Chevy Chase, MD -
North Chevy Chase Elementary School
3700 Jones Bridge Rd, Chevy Chase, MD
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Chevy Chase United Methodist Church
7001 Connecticut Ave, Chevy Chase, MD -
Chevy Chase Library
8005 Connecticut Ave, Chevy Chase, MD -
Rock Creek Forest Elementary School
8330 Grubb Rd, Chevy Chase, MD -
Julian Mansfield
9:56 am on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Laura: Interesting to see us described as having had the lowest turnout in Chevy Chase, since the line here was out the door and down the block for the entire day. The average time in line for voters was over an hour, which was tough on some of our elderly residents. I've worked here for many elections and I have never seen so many people come through. We were all saying it was our biggest turnout ever. In fact I'm not sure how our precinct could have accommodated any more voters—the judges and volunteers did a terrific job. So I'm not disputing your numbers, but any higher turnout and we will need an additional precinct!
Julian Mansfield
Village Manager
Village of Friendship Heights
Laura L Thornton
10:02 am on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Good point, Julian. I was looking at percentages of voter turnout, and the percentage of registered voters from the precinct voting at the Friendship Heights Village Center was lower than the percentage of voters voting at other precincts. Still, the number of people voting at the Friendship Heights Village Center was higher than at other locations. You might just need an additional precinct...!
Eric S.
12:01 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
As someone who votes in Friendship Heights, agreed that I had to wait almost an hour, and my wife and I got in line 10 mins. before opening. The lines were better managed this time than 4 years ago (which seemed to have about the same amount of people or more, but the excess line was outside then as opposed to inside this year).
I suspect it came down to the long wait times in the cold. It also didn't help that none of the early voting was really near anywhere in Chevy Chase to alleviate it.
karen mcmanus
1:26 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
I think it is important to update these statistics once absentee and provisional ballots are included, since i suspect that precincts such as the Friendship Heights one may have a large number of absentee ballots. i assume that early voting tallies are included in these statistics?
Laura L Thornton
1:28 pm on Thursday, November 15, 2012
Yes - these stats are unofficial, which means they include early voting and voting day ballots, minus absentee and provisional ballots. The final numbers might not be ready for a while.
David
3:20 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
I was in line over an hour starting around 10:30AM. It was cold and we had to wait outside for 30 mins before coming in from the cold to wait another 40 mins. At least a few people I was waiting in line with bailed after 40 min. There is no way we should expect civic participation if it takes over an hour to do so. Four years ago it was the same.
By contrast, I went to the CC Villiage Hall voting booth later on and there was no line at all, and when there was a line everyone was able to wait inside. We need more voting machines at Friendship Heights or at least a better plan for managing the volume during presidential elections.