October 31st, 2014 by WCBC Radio
Early voting has ended ahead of the general election and Allegany County showed the lowest participation in the state of Maryland. About 8.3 percent of eligible voters in Maryland have cast ballots during eight days of early voting. Allegany County's final numbers, almost five points below the state average at just 3.5%. The Maryland State Board of Elections reported Friday that 307,646 people voted early. Those numbers are revised from earlier reports which did not reflect people who were standing in line at early voting centers when they closed at 8 p.m. Thursday. Those people were allowed to vote. Montgomery County, the state's largest jurisdiction, had 5.6 percent of eligible voters make it to the polls. That's the third lowest percentage of eligible voters in the state's 24 jurisdictions. Turnout in Baltimore City was 6.95%, while it was 8.49% in Prince George's County. Prince George's and Montgomery Counties and Baltimore City have the highest concentration of Democratic voters, and are considered part of Brown's base. Turnout in Anne Arundel, Harford Howard, Kent, Queen Anne's and Somerset Counties was above 10%, with Somerset County having the highest percentage of turnout at nearly 19%. Officials say the 64,257 voters who cast ballots on Thursday represented the largest one day total of early voters. The Maryland State Board of Elections reports 9.29% of Democrats voted, representing 189,175 voters. The report shows 9.17% of Republicans voted. representing 87,035 voters. Democrats outnumber Republicans in voter registration by a 2-to-1 margin. Allegany County was also easily the lowest in western Maryland with Garrett voting as a 7% clip and Washington County above the state average at 8.7%
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