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Despite spending millions of dollars on early voting this year, it appears that only about 2 percent of Marylanders will take advantage of the new option before the primary election.

State and local officials say they are still evaluating the response to early voting and any changes they might make before the general election.

When the polls closed Wednesday night, 1.87 percent of the state's 3.2 million eligible primary voters had voted early, according to the state Board of Elections. Data for Thursday's turnout were not available by deadline.

"I would say that is low," said Paul Gronke, director of the Early Voting Information Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit at Reed College in Portland, Ore.

Gronke, who presented information to Maryland officials in 2009 about early voting, says a number of factors could be keeping turnout low, such as a lack of competitive races or a need for more public information about the new early voting system.

Predictions had been that as many as 20 percent of eligible voters would vote early in some way — either through absentee ballot or at the polls, said Ross Goldstein, deputy administrator at the state Board of Elections.

The primary election is Sept. 14. Early voting began Sept. 3.

Officials expect more early voters to turn out for the Nov. 2 general election — from Oct. 22 to Oct. 28, except for Sunday, Oct. 24 — simply because turnout overall will be greater.

Maryland voters approved early voting by constitutional amendment in the 2008 election, joining 32 states nationwide that offer some type of early voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Statewide, 46 early-voting locations have been available, with the number depending on the district's population. Baltimore city and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Prince George's and Montgomery counties each had five sites. Howard County had three early-voting sites, and all other jurisdictions had one.

Local election officials say early voting has been a success, but has caused a few problems, primarily with staffing and budgets.

Like in the other districts, Baltimore city Election Director Armstead B.C. Jones Sr. said his employees worked Saturday and on Labor Day to staff early-voting centers and the local election office. He said employees have been putting in 12-hour days during early voting, and are being paid overtime and holiday wages.

"It's really tough on us," Jones said. "On Election Day it's bad enough. It's just spreading everyone real thin, but the job is getting done."

As of Wednesday, 5,604 of the city's 319,342 eligible voters had voted early at the polls, or 1.75 percent, according to the state Board of Elections.

Jones expects to spend about $1 million on early voting this month and before the Nov. 2 general election.

Jones says it is unlikely the city will make any changes to early voting before the general election, but said he would like to re-examine the number of election judges — 15 per site.

"Having 15 judges is really too many at each location," he said.

In Calvert County, Elections Administrator Gail L. Hatfield said the county's site was averaging about 100 voters each day of early voting.

According to the state board, about 683 of Calvert County's 55,811 eligible primary voters voted early, or 1.22 percent.

"As word gets out, I'm sure we'll get more," Hatfield said.

Public information might be the key to higher voter turnout, according to Gronke. He also suggests opening sites in more convenient locations, such as shopping malls.

States instituting early voting typically see about 15 percent turnout the first year — and the number continues to grow, he said.

Hatfield said her office is planning to advertise more about early voting before the general election in order to boost turnout. The office will put early-voting information on sample ballots that are mailed to every voter, she said.

The Maryland Republican Party has spread information about early voting to its members, according to party political director Ryan Mahoney.

He said turnout was lower than expected, but "we've been out there broadcasting it to our base." The party moved up its traditional get-out-the-vote effort before early voting to encourage more people to go to the polls, he said.

That push typically begins just 72 hours before Election Day, he said.

The Maryland Democratic Party is taking a similar approach, according to communications director Isaac Salazar.

"When people know that it's an option, they are very happy to have that option and are likely to go out and take advantage of it," he said. "We go out and make sure that we promote it and spread the word about it."

However, Salazar said a large percentage of voters are still unaware of early voting, and holding early voting over the Labor Day weekend also presented a challenge because many people were out of town.

Still, the party has been contacting voters by phone and advertising early voting in other ways.

"We're having to treat every day like Election Day, because it is," Salazar said. "That's something that candidates will have to get used to."

ecunningham@gazette.net