Turnout for early voting has been robust in Baltimore, election officials say, reflecting a strong trend reported across Maryland and in some parts of the country with the consequential 2024 presidential election just days away.

Voters experienced the crush at the city’s 1111 East Cold Spring Lane site today, the last day of early voting ahead Election Day on Tuesday.

The line snaked up and down the hallway at the League for People with Disabilities building all afternoon.

One determined voter said her wait time was 40 minutes.

“We’ve been getting strong turnout across the city, but especially there and at the Public Safety Training Center. I just came from there,” said Election Director Armstead B.C. Jones Sr.

Asked what’s driving voters to show up in such numbers, Jones had the same conclusion as that people standing in line who were approached by The Brew:

It’s the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump that is a magnetic voter draw – even though, in solidly Democratic Maryland, a win for Harris is not in question.

“Pretty much, it has to be that,” Jones said, describing some tense conversations overheard at the voting sites today.

“If it goes a certain way, people are worried it’s going to take us back many years to how things used to be,” Jones said. “They’re worried for what the future holds, they’re worried about the impact of this election on their families.”

Maryland has offered early voting for the past eight days, from October 24-31 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

According to Jones, 45,853 people cast their votes during that time, including 7,288 as of 5 p.m.

Maryland election officials have an unofficial report of 835,415 votes cast for the first seven days of early voting.