Early Voting Action: Our Votes. Our Power. Our Values.
On the first day of early voting on Thursday, June 11, over 200 people rallied with PATH in the parking lot of St. John Baptist Church to encourage voter turnout in the primary elections.
Twenty-five local and state candidates attended our action, including all four candidates for Howard County Executive, Vanessa Atterbeary, Bob Cockey, Deb Jung, and Liz Walsh.
This is a big moment—nearly every single elected office in Maryland is up for election, and for many offices, this primary will determine who will represent us at the state and local level.
In the last midterm elections, only 27% of eligible voters in Howard County voted in the primaries, and our goal is to change that.
During a brief program in the 90-degree heat, PATH speakers powerfully emphasized the need to vote in the primary elections to address housing affordability and support for immigrants.
Paola Loarca Estrada, a Hispanic Achievement Liaison for Howard County Public Schools, spoke, “We are seeing rising anxiety, empty desks from chronic absenteeism and children sitting in classrooms distracted by the terrifying fear that a parent might not be home when they get home from school… Simultaneously, our families are being crushed by an economic crisis… I call upon Howard County leadership and our community to act immediately.”
Rev. Rogers Barnes from St. John Baptist Church spoke, “My concerns have grown over the years as I see so many of our young adults, first responders, fire and police, teachers, and others unable to actually work and live in the same county due to the housing crisis and the very limited new housing that is available... Incoming elected county officials need to make firm commitments to focus on affordable housing and the housing availability issue.”
Sam Paul, a young adult who grew up in Columbia, spoke, “With the housing prices that exist today, I don’t believe that I’d be able to afford a house in this community now, or in eight years’ time, which is the same age that my parents were when they first moved to this county… My parents achieved their American dream 24 years ago, and right now, my fear is that my generation will not be able to do the same… And there are real dangers to this. Nearly 80 years ago, President Harry Truman said it best when he warned that ‘The seeds of authoritarian regimes reach their fullest potential when the hope of a people for a better life has died.’ So to the candidates here tonight, you must help keep that hope alive.”
Rev. Robert Turner, the senior pastor of St. John Baptist Church, urged attendees to vote and to also get 3 to 5 friends to vote, reminding people not to assume people they know are voting.
Then, we all walked inside the church to cast our ballots, singing “We Shall Overcome.”
The event was featured in a TV segment on WBAL! Watch here:
Early voting is open from June 11 to 18, and Election Day is Tuesday, June 23rd. Polls are open 7 am to 8 pm.
Find more information about voting, including polling places and sample ballots, on the Maryland State Board of Elections website at vote.md.gov/vote2026.
Read the County Executive and County Council candidates’ responses to our questionnaire on our priority issues here: https://www.pathmaryland.org/candidate-questionnaires
We believe that an encouraging conversation with someone you have a relationship with is the best way to help that person vote. Please continue that outreach! You can use this flyer to help you spread awareness in your congregation and other networks.
Thank you for helping strengthen our democracy, bring power back to the people, and build a multi-racial, multi-faith beloved community here in Howard County.
