Despite occasional rain showers, Towson's polling station was busy on the opening day of early voting.
By 5 p.m. Thursday, more than 1,000 people had cast ballots at Towson University's Administration Building during early voting, which runs through Nov. 3.
Jim Erbe, the chief Republican judge, said they've seen 10 times the number of people who showed up for the first early voting day before the primary in April.
"We've had lines all day long," Erbe said.
Wait time has been about 30 minutes, Erbe said.
Erbe, of Perry Hall, said the process has gone smoothly. Of the 23 election judges on duty besides himself, 19 also worked the primary. The group is well-experienced and has a good rapport, he said.
"They like to see it busy because the time goes fast," Erbe said.
And though there was a learning curve for voters because of the state's new paper ballot system in April, this time around people are aware of the system, he said.
Early voting provided an opportunity for candidates to get out.
Around 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Chase resident Keith Truffer, a Circuit Court associate judge, greeted voters on their way to the polls.
Truffer said he had been working the polls all day, shaking hands and asking people for their vote.
"I think it's encouraging as a citizen," Truffer said. "To see them out in this kind of weather just to vote."
For some, voting early is a necessity.
Gail Reid of Towson was leaving the Towson center, one of nine Baltimore County early voting sites, around 4:15 Thursday afternoon, just after a rain shower passed.
Reid was voting early because she will work at the polls as a Democratic election judge Nov. 8.
The 60-year-old said she first came to the building around 3 p.m. Noticing what appeared to be a large number of voters, she went home for a pair of comfortable shoes and a book, "Rise and Shine" by Anna Quindlen, preparing for a long wait.
When she returned, she said she was able to complete voting in about 40 minutes, she said.
Reid, a clinical social worker from the Gaywood community, is supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton for president.
"I'm Hillary all the way," she said. "I'm very excited about a woman being in office."
Nov. 8 will be Reid's first time working the polls as an election judge, she said. It's a decision she made for her own peace of mind in what many consider to be a divisive election.
"I wanted to participate in a constructive way," she said.
She recently attended a three-hour election judge training course. Learning about how ballots are handled was informative and reassuring, she said.
The system was new to Todd Kackley of Towson, 47, who was voting for the first time in Maryland. He moved to the state from Texas a year-and-a-half ago, and registered as unaffiliated.
"I haven't used a paper ballot in a while but it seemed to move efficiently," he said.
Kackley said his first ballot was rejected because of a pen mark — he had to write the word "spoiled" on the sheet of paper and fill out a fresh ballot.
He wanted to vote early because he will be out of the state on Nov. 8, he said. But he also wanted to put an end of months of anxiety about the election, which he said felt like it had been dragging out with little discourse about the issues.
"I feel a lot better now that it's over," he said about voting.
Kackley said he went into the election with an unaffiliated mindset, but ended up leaning more toward Democratic candidates.
Kackley left the polls after 6 p.m., and said his wait was about 20 or 30 minutes.