Early voting turnout in Harford eclipses 26,000 through first five days

More than 26,000 Harford County residents cast ballots in the first five of the eight early voting days available for the presidential general election, as Maryland set a record for early voting turnout in an election on Monday with three days left.Unofficial check-in totals for Harford's four early voting sites showed 5,198 cast ballots on Monday, according to the Maryland Board of Elections, bringing the five-day total locally to 26,371.The five-day early turnout equates to about 14.2 percent of the county's 186,230 active/inactive registered voters, as provided to The Aegis by the Harford Board of Elections Tuesday morning.A few people questioned outside the McFaul Center early voting site in Bel Air early Sunday afternoon said they voted early because of the convenience and to avoid lines that are typical on Election Day.While they declined to say who they were supporting in the presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, several did say they were surprised how quickly they were able to vote.Although election workers appeared to outnumber votes inside the gymnasium where the voting took place, all balloting stations were briefly occupied but then quickly came open again as people signed in, received their printed ballot, filled them out at the voting stations and then fed them into the county machines, before being handed &quot;I Voted&quot; stickers as they left the building.Voters share their views on the importance of casting a ballot during early voting at the McFaul Activity Center in Bel Air Thursday morning. (David Anderson, Baltimore Sun Media Group)Monday's turnout was up from the weekend, but below Day 1 on Thursday and Day 2 on Friday, which saw more than 7,000 people vote in Harford among the 125,000 that cast ballots statewide on each of those days.The four early voting sites in Harford saw a turnout of 7,071 voters on Thursday and 7,217 on Friday, according to Maryland Board of Elections figures. The turnout fell back to 3,798 on Saturday and 3,087 on Sunday.Statewide, more than 515,000 Marylanders had voted early by the end of the day Monday, according to state elections daily reports. In the 2012 general election, the total early voting turnout was 430,000 in the five days early voting was permitted, The Baltimore Sun reported.There were 105,492 ballots cast statewide on Monday, election officials reported; 125,897 people voted on Thursday, 125,772 on Friday, 82,403 on Saturday and 75,838 on Sunday.Monday's Day 5 statewide early voting total was about even with Day 5 in 2012. The statewide early turnout this year was nearly 50,000 higher on Thursday and 70,000 higher on Friday compared to the first two days of early voting in the 2012 presidential election. Conversely, statewide totals were some 15,000 lower on Day 3 this year than in 2012 and about 25,000 lower on Day 4 than in 2012.The McFaul Center in Bel Air has seen the highest turnout among Harford's four early voting sites – 12,541 voters through Monday. Turnout for five days was 4,710 at the Edgewood Library, 4,343 at the University Center in Aberdeen and 4,597 at the Jarrettsville Library.Harford elections officials had predicted at least 20 percent would vote early this year.Early voting runs through this Thursday. The four early voting sites are open each day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.Polling places around Harford will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday Nov. 8.This story has been updated to reflect a more current number of active/inactive registered voters for Harford County.

Early voting turnout in Harford eclipses 26,000 through first five days

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