Voter Turnout Strong In Bel Air

A steady stream of local residents poured into Bel Air polling places Tuesday to exercise their voting rights.

"It's a good thing they had early voting because otherwise it would be absurd," Kathy Boulay, election judge at Red Pump Elementary School, said Tuesday.

More than 820 people had cast their votes at Red Pump as of noon. Boulay said there had been a steady stream of voters coming through since polls opened at 7 a.m.

The message was much the same at Knights of Columbus Hall in Forest Hill and Bel Air middle and high schools.

At Bel Air High School the lunch time rush line extended out the door to the cafeteria and down the hall, one experienced election judge said.

At Bel Air Middle School, election judges opened the school's doors at 6:30 a.m. to allow the long line of eager voters to wait inside the building until polls officially opened, chief election judge Mike Freeze said.

Freeze explained some people had to wait because all of the voter cards were in use, a rare occurrence at that polling place.

"We've never had a turnout with so many questions that took so much time," Freeze said.

As of 1 p.m., more than 25 percent of Bel Air Middle School's voting precinct had already cast their vote, a total of more than 620 voters.