The trickle of voters who kicked off early in-person voting last week seemed to continue Thursday as the last day to cast a ballot in person before Tuesday’s primary drew to a close.

By Thursday afternoon, almost 150,000 Marylanders had cast early in-person votes, compared to the 178,000 who voted early in the 2022 primary, according to Jared DeMarinis, Maryland’s election administrator.

The 2024 primary is the first that election boards in Anne Arundel, Carroll, and Harford counties and Baltimore City could begin canvassing mail-in ballots early. Election officials braced for an onslaught of misinformation about an increase in requests for mail-in ballots.

Primary elections often determine the outcome of political races in Baltimore, where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 10-1. Early voting began last week and ends Thursday at 8 p.m.

Early voting typically follows a pattern in Maryland — the first day and the final few usually generate the highest turnout. That has proven true for the most part in 2024. However, the first day of early voting, when 16,880 people voted, has lagged well behind some days later in the week, where more than 20,000 people voted.

That number has ticked up as the end of early voting approached Thursday. As of 4 p.m., 21,167 people had cast early ballots on Thursday alone. DeMarinis said he expected that number to top 25,000 as the 8 p.m. deadline to vote neared.

“Usually, the last four hours of early voting are the most active,” he said.

DeMarinis argued the state didn’t have such a robust mail-in ballot program in previous years. Some voters eager to vote early seem to have shifted to using mail-in ballots rather than flocking to the first day of early voting, he said.

“It’s a different electorate that is using early voting,” he said.

As of 4 p.m. Thursday, a total of 13,241 registered voters combined for all days of early voting had cast a ballot in Baltimore City, according to acting Election Director Abigail Goldman. The city has 324,436 eligible active voters, according to the State Board of Elections.

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