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Strictly speaking, voting has been going on for weeks now for those Marylanders who requested and returned their mail-in ballots, but the physical act of voting — going to a place and standing in front of a machine to cast a ballot — begins Thursday.
That’s when the week of early voting for the 2024 presidential election begins in Maryland.
Early voting centers open at 7 a.m. and will remain open until 8 p.m. every day through Oct. 31 for people who prefer to vote in person but don’t want to wait until Election Day, Nov. 5. Voters can cast a ballot in person at one of 97 early voting centers statewide. At least one center is located in all 23 counties and the city of Baltimore.
And there are potentially hundreds of thousands of voters who are likely to take advantage of early voting, according to one poll.
A late September poll by the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, found that of 917 registered voters who were surveyed, 28% said they planned to cast their ballots during early voting. With more than 4.2 million registered voters as of September, according to State Board of Elections data, that could be more than 1 million people – if everybody voted in this election.
The poll also found that 27% planned to vote by mail, and the state board reported sending out more than 800,000 ballots as of this week. The bulk of voters, 43%, said the still planned on voting the old-fashioned way, by showing up at their local polling place on Nov. 5.
Voters can still request a mail-in ballot until Tuesday, a week before the election. Voters who get mail-in ballots can, of course, mail them in but they can also drop them off now through 8 p.m Election Day at various drop boxes throughout the state. Voters can also drop off ballots at local elections board offices.
And it’s not too late to register to vote. Marylanders who are not currently registered can do so and cast a ballot on the same day.
To register and vote during early voting or on Election Day on Nov. 5, go to an early voting center in the county where you live or an assigned election day polling location. Voters are asked to bring a document that proves residency such as a MVA-issued driver’s license, ID card, change of address card, utility bill or other government document with your name and address.
In addition to the presidential race at the top of the ticket, Maryland voters will also be choosing between former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) in a closely watched race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D).
But Maryland voters face scores of other decisions when they fill in their ballots. Besides the race for the White House and the Senate, all eight U.S. House seats are up for election as well as a high-profile referendum on whether to add a “right to reproductive freedom” to the Maryland Constitution.
At the local level, there are scores of ballot questions, from bond issues to the redevelopment of the Inner Harbor to the very size and shape of local governing bodies. Voters will also choose school board members in most counties, select circuit court judges and vote on whether to retain or reject Court of Appeals judges and Maryland Supreme Court justices whose terms are up.
Maryland Matters’ Voter Guide includes information on many of the races and candidates and our Election 2024 pages have hundreds of stories covering the campaigns and the issues for the last 18 months.
Voters seem to be eager to make their voices heard: The Institute of Politics poll said that of the registered voters surveyed, just 1% said they were not likely to vote and 4% put the odds at 50/50. But 8% said they were “very likely” to vote and 86% said they were “absolutely certain” they would be casting a ballot.