ELKTON — Few national holidays are always held on the same day of the week, yet Election Day, occurring every two years for midterm and presidential elections, is invariably held on a Tuesday in Nov. The question arises: why a Tuesday?
The answer is the same as why daylight savings time still exists – farmers.
After the first American Presidential Election in 1789, federal law permitted each state to pick their favored presidential candidates within 34 days – before the first Wednesday in December. Because November marked the end of the harvest season and rarely had severe winter weather that would impede travel, states decided that month would be the best time for their residents to vote. An additional benefit of November elections would be that results would return just in time for the new year.
During the early days of the United States, only white adult men who owned property were allowed to vote. A sense of wealth played into casting a vote as voters would need to dedicate the day to voting since Election Day was considered a festivity, according to Cecil County historian Mike Dixon.
“Voting now is not like it used to be,” said Dixon. “It was a rather festive day where rum or other hard drinks would be served while the parties and their candidates would greet supporters and everyone would just have a good time seeing each other.”
The overwhelming majority of voters in the 1700s and 1800s were landowner farmers who, traditionally, sold or prepared their products at the town market on Wednesdays. Tuesday was determined to be the most ideal time for Election Day because it would have the least impact on voters’ normal schedules. The average farmer would attend church on Sunday, travel into town Monday, cast their vote Tuesday and still have time to make it to market on Wednesday.
After the invention of the electric telegraph in the 1840s, Congress mandated a uniform national date for elections. Prior to the congressional ruling, many states had held their individual elections on different Tuesdays within the month. The mandate, issued in 1845, was an act to prevent information of state elections from affecting the outcomes of other state elections, since the telegraph made long distance communication easier and more accessible.
Congress declared “the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November” to be Election Day – effectively constraining Election Day to fall within the period of Nov. 2 through Nov. 8.
Voting in Cecil County’s Early Days
Up until the 1800s, Cecil County was divided into voting districts called ‘hundreds.’ Dixon notes that the name was derived form the fact that there were 100 registered voters within each hundred. Hundreds were, then, what voting districts and subdivisions are today. What is now Conowingo, Rising Sun, Port Deposit, Calvert, North East, Fair Hill, Elkton, Chesapeake City and Cecilton, used to be 14 individual hundreds.
In the late 1700s, Conowingo was a hundred called Octoraro, Rising Sun was called West Nottingham, Port Deposit was North Susquehanna, Calvert was East Nottingham, Fair Hill was North Milford, Chesapeake City was part of Back Creek. Bohemia Manor, Middle Neck and Cecilton took over three hundreds – Bohemia, West Sassafras and North Sassafras.
Like Cecilton, Elkton and North East were a collection of numerous hundreds with present-day Elkton consisting of a portion of hundreds known as North Milford, South Milford, a portion of Elk River Neck and a section of Back Creek. North East was comprised of South Susquehanna, part of South Milford and Elk River Neck.
Once Election Day was over, election officials from each hundred would count the ballots and then forward them to the county courthouse.
“The first courthouse in Cecil County was on the Sassafras River,” said Dixon. “So each step in the voting process would take a day or so because traveling by horseback was only about three to four miles an hour.”
In 1800, Cecil County moved away from the use of hundreds and divided the county into election districts.
“Election districts are what we use today in Cecil County,” said Dixon. “They are the minor political subdivisions in the county which is basically the small unit of local government and in the 1800s, we had four election districts.”
During the 1800s, Cecil County’s District 1 would consist of Southern Cecil County with Cecilton and a small part of Chesapeake City. District 2 would have consisted of Elkton and Fair Hill. District 3 would have been North East, Calvert, a section of Rising Sun and Port Deposit and District 4 would have been Conowingo, a section of Port Deposit and a section of Rising Sun.
“Each of these districts had a set polling location,” said Dixon. “So, for example, in Southern Cecil County, voters would have to travel a few hours to get to their polling location because the polling location would have been whatever is the central or thriving town.”
Dixon notes that in 1835, Cecil County grew to seven election districts- citing that even then travel was about the same to get to the polling locations.
“Until the automobile became available, it was a commitment to go to the polls,” said Dixon. “You would lose a lot of work time and you would be able to afford to lose a workday, too.”
The first process for actually casting a vote in Cecil County was done by voice.
“You would stand in front of an election official, raise your right hand to get sworn in to vote and the representatives of each party would be listening to see how you vote,” said Dixon.
In 1852, Cecil County grew to eight election districts with the addition of Conowingo. Five years later in 1857, the ninth and final election district – Calvert – was added to the county. Moving into the nineteenth century, private voting via paper ballots and ballot boxes were introduced. 30 years after women were granted the right to vote in 1920, the mechanical voting machine was introduced in Maryland.
Although voting traditions in the United States have changed, Cecil County’s agriculture-rich history, and generations of family-run farms that still operate today, haven’t. Be sure to cast your ballot Tuesday, Nov. 8.
CECIL WHIG CLIP
By Matt Hubbard
