ROCKVILLE, Md. — Election officials in Montgomery County, Maryland are anticipating long lines at voting centers during the early voting period all the way through Election Day.
There are several reasons elections officials are anticipating longer lines during the 2020 election season. The first has to do with social distancing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lines may appear longer because voters will be distanced six feet apart as they wait to vote.
Additionally, there are only 39 voting sites in Montgomery County this year, down from 248 precincts used as voting locations in the most recent 2018 election
Early voting in Maryland begins Monday, Oct. 26 and runs until Monday, November 2, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Early voting is available on weekends.
In Montgomery County, there are 11 locations open for early voting, which are listed here. It is the only locality in the state that will provide a text-based service for voters to check wait times at their voting center, according to Gilberto Zelaya with the Montgomery County Board of Elections.
For early voting, voters can text "EV (space) (zip code)" to 77788 and will receive a text with the three closest early voting locations and the estimated wait time at each. The wait time information will refresh every 15-20 minutes.
On Election Day, voters can text "VC (space) (zipcode)" to 77788 for a text with the three closest voting centers and the estimated wait time at each.
There are 682,639 registered voters in Montgomery County as of Oct. 1, according to Zelaya. The deadline to register was Oct. 13, but Maryland allows for on-site voter registration during early voting and on Election Day.
Zelaya said Montgomery County has received 400,234 mail-in ballot requests and that 169,074 have already been received and scanned in. Those results will be included with the tally released after polls close on Election Night.
The deadline to request a mail-in ballot in Maryland is midnight on Tuesday, Oct. 20. To request a mail-in ballot voters can text "VBM" to 77788 or click here. Anyone who has mailed in their ballot and wants to check its status can text "check" to 77788 or click here.
