More than 440,000 people cast ballots through the first four days of early voting in Maryland, down 17% from the same period four years ago.
But while early voting was down by 90,000, state election officials reported they have received an unusually high number of requests for mail-in ballots in advance of the Nov. 5 Election Day this year.
The latest numbers, released Monday by the Maryland State Board of Elections, show that the number of people showing up to early voting centers has fallen every day since early voting began Thursday. The 440,453 voters who cast early ballots was 17% lower than the nearly 532,000 people who cast their votes early during the same four-day period of early voting.
By comparison, the number of early voters this year is 11% higher than the same four-day period in 2016.
Just over 10% of the state’s 4.2 million registered voters had cast ballots at early voting centers through Sunday. Meanwhile, roughly one in five registered Maryland voters have asked for a mail-in ballot, according to the elections board.
As of Sunday, more than 835,000 mail-in ballots had been requested, and more than 478,000 of those had been returned, board data showed. Voters can still request a mail-in ballot, but it has to be received by state or local election boards by Tuesday, Oct. 29.
Mail-in ballots can be dropped in boxes across the state or returned by mail. Any ballot post marked by Nov. 5 will be counted if it arrives at the elections office by 10 a.m. Nov. 15.