Nearly a million voters cast their ballots during the eight days of early voting

More than a third of Maryland's 4.2 million registered voters have already cast ballots ahead of the Nov. 5 election, with nearly a million cast in early voting that ended Thursday and another 568,359 mail-in ballots returned so far.

Those numbers include no more than 300,000 mail-in ballots that were requested by voters but not yet returned, according to the latest data from the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Early voting took place from October 24th to 31st, with more than 159,000 people in attendance on the final day. Over the eight days, more than 994,000 people participated in early voting – a turnout of nearly 24%.

Voter turnout led to longer lines at some polling stations. And while this may cause some frustration among voters, some advocates see it as a positive sign.

“This is the first time I’ve had to wait in line in any election in the last six years,” said Nikki Tyree, executive director of the League of Women Voters. “I had to wait in line to check in. I stood there and thought: This is incredible.”

Tyree said she and other advocates find the lines “amazing” because they mean voters are coming out to get involved. But she said she also understands that others might see it differently.

Most early voters were, unsurprisingly, in some of the largest counties, with a total of 537,000 ballots cast in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George's counties. Four counties — Queen Anne's, Calvert, Talbot and St. Mary's — all reported early voter turnout of more than 31% of their registered voters, while Allegany County and Baltimore City reported early voter turnout below 20%. Baltimore City reported the lowest voter turnout at 13.4%.

Early voting and mail-in voting combine to ensure high voter turnout

Combining early voting and mail-in ballots received, the share of voters who have cast a ballot in the general election so far is 37%.

In a typical presidential election year, more than 75% of Maryland voters cast a ballot, based on turnout in ten general presidential elections between 1984 and 2020. Some of these elections saw turnout near 80%, with only one election exceeding that mark: Voter turnout reached 81% in 1992, when the vote included a referendum to codify the landmark Roe v. Wade decision's abortion protections into Maryland law.

This year, voters will decide the fate of Question 1, which would effectively add this three-decade-old law to the Maryland Constitution. Debate over the amendment did not rise to the level of the referendum dispute in 1992. A recent poll by the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, found that 69% of Maryland voters supported Question 1, including about 35% Republican voters .

So far there have been only a few problems

Tyree's group is part of an ACLU and Common Cause coalition that also keeps an eye on voting issues in elections.

Early voting has had few problems this year, Tyree said.

In one case, voters were briefly turned away at an early voting center in Charles County. The situation was resolved after state election officials intervened, Tyree said.

There were also several reports of volunteers crossing borders for campaign work. In one case, Tyree said, a voter reported being followed into a polling place.

“I think it's important to remember here that many people involved in voting are volunteers. They’re just people who believe in their candidate,” Tyree said.

“I don’t think many of these actions are inherently nefarious,” she said. “But there are really clear guidelines that poll workers need to know. It’s not good to follow people into a polling station.”

Expanded mail-in voting popular post-pandemic

The state's mail-in voting program remains a popular option, with more than 869,000 mail-in ballots requested, representing about one in five registered voters. Of these, more than 568,000 had been returned by Thursday.

Mail-in voting remains more popular among Democrats, who requested more than 64% of all mail-in ballots in the state. While Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-to-1 ratio nationwide, they requested more than 3.7 times as many mail-in ballots as GOP voters.

Maryland has a limited history of expanded access to mail-in voting, dating back to the pandemic-era 2020 presidential election. Before this year, a voter had to qualify to cast a vote through a so-called postal vote.

But as the pandemic raged in 2020, every voter received a mail-in ballot for the primary and was encouraged to use it. For the general, mail-in ballots were made available to anyone who wanted one, but many wanted to vote in person.

Because of that experience, lawmakers expanded access to mail-in ballots to everyone who wanted one, not just those who were eligible.

Republicans have a difficult history with postal voting. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump made repeated and baseless claims that mail-in voting was fraudulent. Many supporters chose not to vote by mail and instead voted in person.

But there are signs that mail-in voting is becoming increasingly accepted among Republicans in Maryland. In 2020, nearly 262,000 Republicans requested absentee ballots due to the pandemic. But this year, more than 149,000 Republicans nationwide requested an absentee ballot, significantly more than the 102,000 Republicans who requested an absentee ballot in 2022.

However, there are caveats when comparing the three parliamentary elections. This is only the second presidential election where expanded access to absentee voting is available in Maryland.

Second, the pandemic and COVID concerns were very different in 2020 than they were in 2022 or even today.

Finally, voter turnout in general elections in presidential years – 2020 and 2024 – is typically different than in gubernatorial election years.

Voters from both major parties are returning those ballots in higher percentages — more than 67% so far — than in the state as a whole when independent and other voters are included.

It's too late to request a mail-in ballot, but not too late to return one. Anyone who votes by postal vote must put their ballot in a mailbox or have it stamped by November 5th at 8 p.m. Mail-in ballots received by 10 a.m. November 15th will be counted if they are postmarked by the deadline.