Turnout surging in Maryland, as ‘jacked up’ voters head to the polls for early voting

Early voting in Maryland is surging, with turnout 67% higher through the first five days of in-person voting than it was at the same time four years ago, according to data from the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Higher voting was recorded in every county in the state, with 309,190 voters having cast ballots through Monday, compared to 185,121 voters after the first five days of voting in 2022. The surge mirrors a national spike in early voting, with more than 34 million Americans already having cast ballots, a week before Election Day on Nov. 3.

Democrats in Maryland have been particularly motivated to vote early, with their numbers up 81% over four years ago, compared to 33% for GOP voters, according to an analysis of state data by Jim Burton, the founder of political and public affairs consulting firm Burton Research and Strategies. 

“They are jacked up to vote,” said Burton, the former executive director of the Maryland GOP. “On the Democrat side, they’re willing to run through a brick building to cast their vote.”

Early voting surges in midterm elections as millions cast their ballots

Monday saw the biggest increases, with Democratic voting up 84% and Republican voting up 49% compared to the fifth day of early voting in 2022. Frederick County saw the biggest surge Monday, with Democratic voting up 146% and GOP voting 67% than four years ago.

Burton said the higher numbers could be voters expressing their displeasure with the administration of President Donald Trump. He added that while the biggest increases appeared to be in suburban areas, the increases could be also be due to local or regional issues, since the surge is being seen everywhere in the state.

Nikki Tyree, the executive director of Maryland’s League of Women Voters, said she thinks big issues like data centers, the cost of living, or Question 3, the proposed constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting, are driving voters this year.

“We’re looking at a midterm that is hanging on so many critical issues that people have been focused on,” Tyree said. “Marylanders have really shown that they’re paying attention to what’s going on.”

In addition to the more than 300,000 who had voted early in person so far, state election officials said voters had returned 305,690 mail-in ballots as of Sunday, about half of the 645,962 mailed out this year.

Early voting began last Thursday and continues through this Thursday. Burton said the first few days and the final day of early voting tend to see the heaviest traffic.

“The candidates and campaigns are still trying to drive turnout,” he said. “I tell my clients … just because what the early-vote demographics are showing doesn’t mean we’re handing in the towel. We have to continue to do our job, and we still have seven days to do it.”

Burton said that even though the increase in Democratic voting is much higher than that of Republicans, it’s too soon to read much into it, as it could simply be the result of differing personal preferences between the parties.

He said Democrats tend to vote by mail of hit the polls early compared to Republicans, who historically tend to stick to voting on Election Day, as they might be “set in their ways.”

Heading into the final days of early voting, and only a week out from Election Day, Tyree thinks the increased turnout is a good sign for the rest of the country.

“I think Maryland is always sort of a microcosm of what’s happening across the country,” she said. “Our little state has so much of what other states encompass…. If our voters are paying attention to the issues that are affecting their daily lives, I think that’s just a small example of what some of the voters who are facing widely publicized races are engaging in as well.”