Early Voting Wrap-Up

Originally Published: November 1, 2024

Turnout Numbers, What’s Next?

Nearly a third of registered voters in St. Mary’s County turned out for early voting, which lasted from October 24th through the 31st. According to data from the Maryland Board of Elections, over 24K voters, or 31.5% of those registered, voted over the eight day period. Interestingly, the lowest numbers were on the weekend, October 26-27, with nearly 1,800 voters casting their ballots each day compared to 3,000, or more, cast every other day. Turnout records also show a total of 412 newly registered voters who took advantage of same day registration during early voting.

A majority of mail-in votes, across parties, have already been returned even if they have not yet been officially counted. Elections data shows 12,460 mail-in ballots sent out (5,873 Dem; 3,927 Rep; 2,660 Other). Nearly 72% of those, or 8,929 ballots, have been returned thus far. Over 75% of ballots requested by Democrats were turned in compared to about 71% of Republican ballots. However, only 4,821 mail-in ballots received have already been counted. That leaves nearly 8K still to count, assuming all are returned on time.

The St. Mary’s County Board of Elections canvassed mail-in ballots on October 15th and 16th, and will not count the remaining ballots until November 7th and 8th. Provisional ballots, largely used for same-day registrants, won’t be counted until November 13th, with a final canvass of all remaining ballots scheduled on November 15th. Results from the previous counted mail-in ballots will not be released until election night, November 5th. Any local election with slim margins could be significantly impacted by the amount of remaining mail-in ballots.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. On election day, you must vote at your specified polling location–there are 20 throughout the county. You can look up your polling location at the link below.

Check Polling Location: https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/PollingPlace...