Maryland
Maryland board seeking earlier mail-in ballot count
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland State Board of Elections voted Monday to file an emergency petition in court docket that seeks an earlier rely of mail-in ballots for the overall election in November.
The board voted 4-0 to hunt a authorized treatment in hopes of rushing up the vote rely for mail-in ballots, which have turn into way more common with voters within the state.
In an announcement after the vote, the board mentioned that the continued enlargement of mail-in balloting and the lack of the native boards of elections to rely mail-in ballots earlier than Election Day might have vital implications.
“It might go away native, statewide, and even federal contests with out licensed outcomes till late December 2022 or early January 2023,” the board mentioned. “Maryland is presently the one state within the union that forbids any form of processing of mail-in ballots till after Election Day.”
At present, mail-in ballots cannot be counted till two days after Election Day. That brought on delays in figuring out winners within the state’s major final month. The state elections board licensed the first election on Monday.
Maryland’s major was delayed by three weeks because of authorized challenges involving congressional and legislative redistricting.
Severn Miller, an elections board member, mentioned the board is restricted by way of what it has authority to do by itself on the matter.
“I believe the suitable avenue right here is to hunt judicial reduction in a circuit court docket to permit the counting of mail-in ballots earlier than Election Day, in order that we will get forward of the curve and to easily not launch these outcomes till after Election Day is accomplished,” Miller mentioned throughout a board assembly Monday.
About 345,230 mail-in ballots had been obtained from across the state within the major. That compares to 671,160 complete votes solid within the Democratic gubernatorial major and 295,068 complete votes solid within the Republican gubernatorial major.
Sen. Cheryl Kagan spoke to the board a few invoice she sponsored that was handed by the Normal Meeting this yr. The measure would have enabled mail-in ballots to start to be counted earlier than Election Day, however Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed the invoice.
“It was unlucky and avoidable, however actually large kudos to the 4 of you for simply voting unanimously to deliver a authorized initiative, and we hope that that will probably be accepted by the circuit court docket, and we will guarantee that votes are counted in a well timed method,” Kagan, a Montgomery County Democrat, mentioned.
In his veto letter concerning the invoice, the Republican governor cited election safety issues about one other provision within the laws that might have allowed voters who neglect to signal their mail-in poll envelope to take action after mailing it to get it counted.
In the meantime, a recount is predicted to start this week within the race for the Democratic nomination for Montgomery County govt. Marc Elrich, the incumbent, leads David Blair by 35 votes.