Thursday at the polls in Prince George’s County, thousands turned up to vote in the special primary election primary for county executive, resulting in some long lines and long waits to vote.
“We were surprised, but people came out and voted, and that’s what we wanted to see anyway,” acting Elections Administrator Wendy N. Honesty-Bey said.
According to the Prince George’s County Board of Elections, more than 11,000 people cast their ballots in person Tuesday. Close to 10,000 voted in person early between Feb. 26 and March 3.
“We do have some people, we understand, that don’t like vote by mail,” Honesty-Bey said. “They want to go to the polls. They want to actually vote and have their vote counted in person.”
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
The board of elections said more than 400 people were in line at the South Bowie Community Center polling location when polls closed at 8 p.m. After polls closed, South Regional Technical had a 75-minute wait, while Southern Area Aquatic Center had a 90-minute wait.
Each polling location had 30 judges and workers in total. They were able to close all polls by 9:30 p.m.
“With the uptick in voters waiting ‘til election days, waiting ‘til that 10th hour to vote, we have to take that into consideration,” Honesty-Bey said.
Prince George's County
Prince George's County, Maryland, news updates, events and information
And they’re still counting the votes.
“As of yesterday, we had 68,000 mail-in ballots that we received, and we did early canvass on election day, about 10,000,” Honesty-Bey said. “So, about 58,000, and we’ll still get mail ballots from the post office as well that have been postmarked.”
With the potential for even more voters during the June general election, the board of elections said it will be prepared for in-person voting come May and June and is encouraging voters to mail in their ballots or drop them off at one of the 18 ballot drop off boxes in the county.
“We have to understand, again, is this a trend going forward, because that changes the dynamics on orders and supplies and everything else, so we have to look at it and see how is this going to go.”
Early voting for the general election takes place May 28 through June 2 with election day on June 3.
Sign up for our free deep-dive newsletter, The 4Front, to get standout News4 stories sent right to your inbox. Subscribe here.
