Early Voting Continues at Towson U.

There are two kinds of early voters. The kind in a hurry and the kind just taking advantage of a nice day to get it out of the way.

Emily Serfling, a Timonium resident, declined to give her party affiliation as she strolled to her car outside the Administration Building at . She had family visiting next week, she said.

"I wanted to get this done so I didn't have to bother them with it," she said before getting into her car.

This is the second election cycle since Maryland enacted early voting laws. Towson University is one of Baltimore County's five early voting polling places. Early voting began Saturday and continues through Thursday ahead of next Tuesday's primary.

As of the end of the day on Monday, 6,131 had voted early at one of the county's early voting centers, according to state board of elections data. That represents about 1.5 percent of the county's eligible voters and is ahead of the statewide figure of 1.14 percent.

By party, turnout is nearly even. More than 1.5 percent of Democratic voters in Baltimore County have voted early as of the end of Monday, and 1.3 percent of Republican voters. That'scompared to 1.2 percent of Democrats and 1.3 percent of Republicans statewide.

Check out detailed numbers from the Maryland Board of Elections.

By noon Tuesday, officials counted 56 votes at the early voting polling place set up in the Administration Building at Towson University, a number election judges said would pick up as people get off work. Only a few cars were in the lot outside the polling place early Tuesday afternoon, but "things are going pretty steady," said Jim Erbe, a Republican election judge from Perry Hall.

Though Barack Obama is running uncontested for Maryland's Democratic nomination, Democratic voters like Deborah Bond of Idlewylde still want to turn out to make a statement.

"I think the Republican debate is really like a joke," she said. "It's like watching a comedy act."

Hilma and Bob Swensen of Glen Arm switched from Republican to Democratic affiliation before the 2008 election. Hilma Swensen decried "ugly rhetoric from both sides," especially during the debate over the health care reform law now under review in the Supreme Court.

"We hope that Obama's going to take" the general election in the fall, Bob Swensen said. "He's got to take it because I don't see how a woman can vote for Republicans."

Early voting continues through Thursday. Baltimore County early voting locations are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, visit the county's website.