OCEAN CITY, Md. - The only early voting location for Worcester County is at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean City. That means Worcester County voters who live in Pocomoke City will have to drive over 30 miles if they want to cast their ballots.
We traveled to Pocomoke to see if voters were willing to make the drive, or if they plan on saving some gas money and waiting until election day on November 8th.
According to Patricia Jackson, the election director for Worcester County, the reason the early voting center is in Ocean City and not a more centralized location, like Snow Hill, is because legally, it has to be.
"When early voting was written into law, the early voting center had to be within 10 miles of the heaviest voter registration," said Jackson. "That was kind of the Berlin, Ocean City area."
Jackson said they looked at several venues, but ultimately settled on the convention center because it was the largest venue that could accommodate voters.
One voter in Pocomoke, Greg Fentress, says no way.
"We just figured it’s more convenient," said Fentress. "It's easier where we got a lot of stuff going on here in Pocomoke, so it’s easier to go to the fire house than it is in Ocean city."
And, with gas prices at $3.79 a gallon, Fentress says he's not in a rush to drive roughly 45 minutes to the polls.
"No, we're going to wait until election day on the 8th," said Fentress.
Despite the distance, some voters in Pocomoke say their civic duty comes first, so they'll make the trek.
"Absolutely, it's that important, we really need to use our voting rights and get out there and make our voices heard," said Corrie Tarr.
Tarr also sees this as a possible teaching moment.
"I think it’s totally worth taking a day." said Tarr. "Even if we have to make a day of it just take the family and go and teach our kids about the privileges we have as Americans."
From Pocomoke, to Snow Hill, and everywhere in between, if people in Worcester County want to vote early, like it or not, they'll need to go to Ocean City.