County election officials: Early voting 'normal, if not a little bit better than normal'

Now that early voting in Maryland has ended, a top county elections board official said that Washington County's voter turnout was slightly ahead compared to previous gubernatorial elections.

The county averaged more than 300 voters a day during early voting, which was between July 7 to 14. In 2018, the county saw a total of 2,460 ballots cast during early voting, said Barry Jackson, the deputy director for the county elections board, in a telephone interview with The Herald-Mail on Friday.

When factoring in the 8,000 mail-in ballots the election board is expected to receive, the turnout ahead of Election Day "has been better than it was in 2018," Jackson said. Historically, gubernatorial primary elections have a voter turnout of more than 20%.

"When we were standing here looking at (voter turnout), there were never any lines," Jackson said. "It was just kind of a steady trickle of people coming in. We were thinking, 'Boy, this is really slow.' But when you look at the numbers, we actually weren't that bad after all. It was actually pretty ... normal, if not a little bit better than normal, kind of a turnout for this type of election."

He said more than 3,000 people cast ballots during early voting at either the election board headquarters on Virginia Avenue or at the Fletcher branch of the Washington County Free Library in downtown Hagerstown.

Of those who voted, 2,729 came through the elections board's headquarters.

"At least 300 went through the library, so I can confidently say over 3,000 voters came to early voting in Washington County," Jackson said.

Jackson added that he thinks Election Day on Tuesday will be very similar to what the election board saw during early voting.

More on Maryland early voting turnoutWill Maryland get final Primary results on election night? Not likely

The county has nearly 75,000 registered eligible voters — Democrats and Republicans — in the primary.

"You never know until you get into it," Jackson said. "We've prepared for ... at least for it to be busy. We're ready for that if it happens."

As the election board prepares for Election Day, Jackson said in a previous report that the election results would not be certified until July 29, giving the board time to count mail-in ballots. Valid mail-ins need to be postmarked by Election Day or dropped off in one of the county's six drop boxes by 8 p.m. that day.

Maryland is the only state that does not permit the processing of mail-in ballots until after the polls close on Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. It is also one of only nine states that do not require signature verification on mail-in ballots.

More on Maryland primary election What you need to know about Maryland's polling and district changes before you vote

While the county elections board is expecting a total of 8,000, Jackson said that they've received 3,000 mail-in ballots already.

Unlike the 2020 election, in which voters could cast their ballots at voting centers, Jackson said those voting on Election Day must vote at the polling place they are assigned and urged voters to check their location online beforehand. There is a total of 49 polling places during the upcoming primary, though some polling places house more than one precinct.

There are 99,318 registered voters in Washington County, according to the elections board. Of those, 43,724 are Republicans and 31,454 are Democrats. The rest are third-party or unaffiliated voters. Only Republicans and Democrats are voting in the primary. To view your precinct, visit the Washington County Board of Elections website.

The polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Early voting in Washington County goes 'better than normal'