As the 8 p.m. deadline draws near, polling locations across Lexington Park and Leonardtown are barren. As of 6:30 p.m., there were no lines at Loveville Elemetary School, Benjamin Banneker School, Leonardtown Firehouse,  Leonardtown Middle School, Leonardtown High School and Lexington Park Elementary School. Now is the perfect time to rush to the polls for last minute voters.

Calvert County reported as of 3 p.m., 25,977 voters had cast their ballots, 47 percent of Calvert's registered voters. St. Mary's County reports as of 3 p.m., the total number of voters in St. Mary's County was 28,164.

Now that voters are leaving work and heading to the polls, voters can expect a heavy turn out. It has just been reported that voting at Lexington Park Elementary School is intense and people are lined up in the rain waiting to take their turns in the voting booth. Further reports as received from other polling locations. TBN readers are asked to let us know if they experience heavy voter turn-out at their polling location. Email news@thebaynet.com or comment on this story with any news.

At 8 a.m., St. Mary's College of Maryland began transporting voters every 15 minutes in a 12-passenger van provided by the Student Government Association.

If voters are in need of a ride to the polls, you are invited to come to the Campus Center and wait on the first floor lobby, until the next shuttle arrives. Shuttles will be making continuous loops from the college to the Ridge Volunteer Fire Department, until the polls close this evening, according to Kelly Schroeder, Assistant Dean of Students.

Chief Election Judge, Betty Thomas with Judge,  Terry Johnson in Loveville.

Chief Judge Betty Thomas said there was a different scene in the early morning hours, stating that at 6 in the morning, voters were lined up in lounge chairs waiting to get inside. "As of 9 a.m., we had 309 votes cast which almost doubles our typical turnout for this time," said Thomas. "And there was almost an equal number of Democrats to Republicans voting by then."
 
Thomas went on to say that all of the voting stations in the county had anticipated a large turnout and had prepared accordingly. "We are ready," she stated with confidence. "We have added more electronic books, more voting machines and more judges than ever before at all locations."

St. Mary's County Public Information Officer, Karen Everette reported that as of 11 a.m., there were already 17,927 St. Mary's County voters.

Leading up to lunch time at the polls, two TBN staffers report that there are still many people lining up to vote. In St. Mary's at the Ridge Volunteer Fire Department, there were 20 machines and people were moving fast, even though St. Mary's College of Maryland bussed students down to vote.

In Calvert, voter interest is high. Another staffer voted at Mutual Elementary School and stated that the turn out was getting busier as the lunch hour approached. As of 11 a.m., 21 precincts had reported over 15,000 voters,  27 percent of Calvert's registered voters.

It is generally accepted that the best time to vote will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with the heaviest voting occuring before 8 a.m. and after work.