Early Voting Begins On Thurs. In Maryland For Midterm Elections

Frederick County will have four early voting sites.Annapolis, Md (KM) Early voting in the 2022 Midterm elections starts this Thursday, October 27th in Maryland and continues through Thursday, November 3rd.If you have not registered to vote, but want to participate, you can do so at any early voting site in Maryland. “If you forgot to register to vote, you’re a new voter, you’ve just decided you want to make your voice heard, you can go and register and vote at any of those locations as well during the early  voting period,” says Joanne Antoine, Executive Director of Common Cause Maryland.She says bring along some identification as well, such as your Maryland’s driver’s license, a state I.D., change of address card, paycheck, bank statement, utility bill or other government-issued documents with your name and address.Antoine also says anyone who has been convicted of a felony and is  not behind bars can vote in Maryland. “Maryland restored voting rights for returning citizens,” she says. “If someone is coming back from a correctional facility, whether it’s prison or a local jail, they are legally eligible to vote right now,” she says.And even some individuals who are incarcerated can also vote. “And if you have someone who is inside–we say behind the wall–who is serving time for a misdemeanor or on pre-trial {detention }, they also have access to voting,”: says Antoine. “We’ve been going into the facilities helping with voter registration and ballot requests. And some of the facilities even have drop boxes.”She says a lot of Marylanders are taking advantage of early voting. “On election day, when we’re at the polls, we really see very few people. I think it’s just the convenience of going early,” Antoine says.For those planning to cast their ballots before election day, Antoine says go on the first few days of early voting to avoid crowds. . “If anything, I think the peak might be the last two days of early voting. That’s where we usually see the highest turnout. So if you want to avoid lines, I think you should go as early as the 27th before those last few days,” says Antoine.Frederick County will have four early voting sites: Trinity Recreation Center, 6040 New Design Road, Frederick; Urbana Regional Library, 9020 Amelung Street; Thurmont Regional Library, 76 East Moser Road; and Myersville Town Hall, 301 Main Street. These centers will be open from 7:00 AM until 8:00 PM on early voting days.Residents who have received mail-in ballots can put them in one of eight drop boxes around Frederick County: Frederick Board of Elections, 340 Montevue Lane, Frederick Md; Brunswick Middle School, 301 Cummings Drive, Brunswick, Md; Catoctin High School, 14745 Sabillasville  Road, Thurmont, Md: Governor Thomas Johnson High School, 1501 North Market Street, Frederick, Md: Myersville Town Hall, 301  Main Street, Myersville, Md; Oakdale High School, 5850 Eaglehead Drive, Ijamsville, Md; Urbana Regional Library, 9020 Amelung Street; and William R. Talley Recreation Center, 121 North  Bentz Street, Frederick, Md.The Frederick County Board of Elections says all drop boxes will remain open until 8:00 PM on election day, November 8th, 2022.By Kevin McManus