It’s the first day of early voting in Maryland and judging by the lines outside of some polling places around the state, it’s clear that many voters still prefer to cast their ballots in-person.
Long Lines
John Lee visited the Honeygo Run Community Center in Perry Hall before it opened at 7 a.m. At the front of the line was Jo Ann West. The White Marsh resident had been waiting outside since 3:30 a.m.
John’s 6:15 a.m. report:
She got in line so early because she owns an assisted living facility where she cares for veterans. Once she votes in the county, she is heading to Baltimore City to take a veteran to a voting center.
“I have to take him so he can cast his vote. I know I’m going to be in two lines today, so I did myself first and then I’ll go do my resident,” she said.
West said she wasn’t surprised to see so many people in line during the wee hours of the morning.
“You’re going to see lines like this, you’re going to see people who got up much earlier than I did in all of the states across the country. Because we’ve had enough of Mr. Trump.”
In addition to the lines that John witnessed at Baltimore County early voting centers, Emily Sullivan saw a healthy turnout at the voting center at Camden Yards.
Emily’s 9:30 a.m. report:
There’s a line wrapped around the ballpark by the ticket sales window. Voters about to enter the polling center say they’ve been waiting about an hour and fifteen minutes…and yes, there are a lot of jokes about how there are more people lined up to vote than there usually are to buy tickets at Birdland.
We’ve got a steady line here at Camden Yards. People about the enter the polling center say they’ve been waiting for about an hour and 15 minutes. pic.twitter.com/S9d2r7xB0F
— emily sullivan (@emilyasullivan) October 26, 2020
WYPR producer Mark Gunnery witnessed a long line of voters outside Mount Pleasant Church in East Baltimore. Find a list of Baltimore City voting centers here and a list of Baltimore City ballot drop boxes here.
A long but quickly moving line for the first day of in person early voting at Mount Pleasant Church in East Baltimore #WYPRvotes pic.twitter.com/SHseSdfKq9
— Mark Gunnery (@MarkGunnery) October 26, 2020
