ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — Today, marks 34 days until the November election and voting is already underway in Maryland.
This week, ballot drop boxes were delivered to every jurisdiction in the state with more scheduled for delivery.
In Anne Arundel County, there’s currently 18 ballot drop boxes in the county. They’re stationed outside of the board of elections building in Glen Burnie and at some early voting centers.
David Garreis, who is the Deputy Director at Anne Arundel County Board of Elections, said the county expects to have 32 by October 17th.
“People are finally voting in Maryland. We’re finally at showtime,” he said.
Garreis said nearly 600 people have already voted by mail in the county. He believes about half of them used the ballot drop boxes.
“And we’re expecting to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 ballots back [by the November election],” he said.
He said election officials are working hard to secure the boxes by using padlocks, security cameras and other measures.
“We’re very cognizant of the fact a lot of people might be nervous about leaving their ballot in the drop box, “ Garreis said. “We believe it’s the safest way to vote if you’re going to vote by mail.”
It’s the reason why Jason Higgins decided to use the ballot drop box for the first time in his life. He’s worried about voting safely in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I decided I wanted to do mail-voting because I think it’s safer and it sort of helps out other people that might be vulnerable to getting the virus.”
The deadline to request a ballot is on October 20th.
Garreis is encouraging voters to keep that in mind before it’s too late.
“Time’s ticking,” he said.
For more information on where the ballot drop boxes are in your area, you can click on this link here
