'We have our voice': Voters go 'old-fashioned' way of casting ballots on Election Day
BALTIMORE - The voting polls in Maryland close Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Rather than casting their ballot through mail, or taking advantage of early voting, many voters went the "old-fashioned route" by going to the polls on Election Day.
Several key issues and races are on the ballot.
At Waverly Elementary School in Ellicott City, there was a steady stream of voters walking in to cast their ballot.
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Voters told WJZ they are feeling hopeful for the future.
They are adamant about wanting their voices heard and they're motivated by the candidates and the issues on the ballot.
"Voting is always important," voter Matthew Dolamore said. "We have our voice. It's one vote each and it feels like, in a divided country, we should keep exercising that right."
Issues at polling places across the area have been minimal, but at Pine Grove Middle School, voters said they had to go to another location to vote.
In Frederick County, voters said there was an issue with a machine that forced her to switch to a paper ballot.
We're still waiting to see how many people voted in person on Election Day, but the Maryland State Board of Elections said 382,000 voted early, and more than 500,000 ballots were mailed out.
Some jurisdictions in the state have already started counting those mail-in ballots.
"It's just really important to always exercise our right to vote," voter Shelba Bollinger said. "There's just a lot going on in our state in our country and our voice needs to be heard."
Election officials told WJZ that Maryland is a strong in-person voting state.
Voters told WJZ why it is so important for them to vote.
Some feel the country is divided right now, and there's a lot of focus on inflation, crime, abortion and the legalization of marijuana.
"It's time for a change," voter Tatum Scott said. "I'm tired of the same people coming into office nothing's changing, schools need help, Medicare need helps, the people need help and the people we elected promised things to us that we haven't seen, and we need a change, it's time."
If you are still holding onto that mail-in ballot, it has to be dropped off or mailed in by 8 pm Tuesday with the postmark of Tuesday's date.
You can register to vote in person if you haven't yet.
"it's important that everyone takes advantage of their right to be heard," voter Amber Wilke said. "There are important things at stake right now and as a woman I feel that it's my responsibility because I can."