BALTIMORE — Voters began to trickle into polling places across Maryland Thursday as the first of eight days of early voting got underway ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
The season’s voting, which includes statewide contests for governor, attorney general and comptroller, had already begun for the more than 607,000 voters who requested mail-in ballots this fall. Thursday offered the first chance for voters to make their selections in person and continues through Nov. 3.
Joey Quinn, 60, of Pasadena was among the first voters to cast a ballot at Severna Park Library. A veteran who now works as a defense contractor, Quinn said he took advantage of early voting because he’ll be out of town through Election Day.
Quinn is a registered Republican but on Thursday said he voted a straight Democratic ticket for the first time in his life.
“The Republican Party currently trying to destroy the American way of life and way of government is the primary issue for me,” he said. “Leading an insurrection against our own system of government is not acceptable.”
National issues like the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, inflation and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade are among the factors expected to weigh on voters at the polls this fall. Nearly half Democrats and Republicans and 40% of unaffiliated voters surveyed in a new Baltimore Sun Media and University of Baltimore poll said they feel more motivated to vote on Nov. 8 than in other recent elections.
The poll, which surveyed nearly 1,000 voters across the state this month, showed abortion rights, the economy and inflation were all top of mind — 11% of the voters who described themselves as extra motivated to cast a ballot named each as a primary concern driving them to vote this year.
For Towson retiree Mary Hinton, abortion was top of mind while voting Thursday morning, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned a guaranteed constitutional right to abortion.
”When I vote — regardless — I’m not voting for or against abortion. I’m voting for a person’s right to make that choice themselves,” she said.
Hinton, who declined to give her age or party affiliation, said she wanted to cast her ballot in person as soon as possible.
“I could drop dead tomorrow,” she joked. “I want my vote to count!”
Voters are also being asked to choose Maryland’s first new governor in eight years as Republican Gov. Larry Hogan reaches the end of his tenure.
Polls have shown Democrat Wes Moore of Baltimore with a more than 30-point lead over Frederick County Republican Dan Cox. Moore emerged from a crowded field in the July Democratic primary to go head-to-head with Cox, a conservative state delegate and ally of former President Donald Trump who defeated Hogan’s hand-picked successor, Kelly Schulz, in the Republican primary.
John Whitty, 61, a Republican from Joppa, said he voted for the conservatives on his ballot because of issues like the economy. His vote for Cox, however, was cast with hesitation.
“It wasn’t my choice,” Whitty said. “But the other guy, too over-the-top, too far left,” he said of Moore.
“But when (Cox) thinks Trump didn’t lose the election, he’s crazy,” Whitty added. “He’s over the top with some of some of his beliefs. He’s just too radical.”
Several voters who said they supported Cox declined to give their names to a reporter.
Baltimore resident Rodney Quill, 57, said he’s been a steady Democratic voter his entire life but for one exception: Hogan. The Sun’s poll found Hogan still enjoys high popularity statewide. About 70% of respondents gave him a favorable rating.
This cycle, Quill said, there are no candidates who have him excited to cast a ballot.
“The only reason I’m voting for Wes Moore is because of the party affiliation,” he said. “If Hogan could run again, I would have voted for him.”
Quill said a ballot question on term limits, one of 11 being asked of Baltimore voters this fall, also drew him to the polls Thursday. The question asks voters if they want to institute a two-term limit for the city’s mayor, City Council members and comptroller.
Quill said he voted in favor of the measure, which has been backed by a $525,000 contribution from David Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting Group that owns local station Fox 45. Some city officials have been in office “for way too long” and have become complacent, he said.
Baltimore voters are also being asked to consider ballot questions about reforming oversight of the city’s inspector general, protecting an underground utility system from sale and about local control of the city’s police department which has been controlled by the state since 1860.
Statewide, voters have been asked to consider a ballot question on legalizing recreational use of marijuana for those 21 and older.
Michael Haines, 38, a Libertarian from Sykesville, said marijuana was the issue that most motivated him this year.
“My girlfriend smokes it,” he said. “I think it’s dumb that it’s illegal.”
While voters report being interested in voting in the Nov. 8 election, turnout during the July primary suggests Maryland may see fewer voters participating in early voting this year. Use of mail-in ballots, which surged to 50% of all ballots cast in the November 2020 election, remained strong in July, with about one-third of all voters casting ballots by mail.
Early voting turnout in July sank to its lowest participation rate since 2012, two years after the practice was first instituted in Maryland. The highest rates of participation are typically the last two days.
------
(Baltimore Sun Media Group reporters Brian Jeffries, Christine Condon, Jason Fontelieu, Thomas Smith, and Ngan Ho contributed to this report.)
-----
