ballot boxes

With reports of slow mail delivery across the country, Maryland election officials are urging voters to return their mail-in ballots at drop-boxes throughout the state instead of using the Postal Service.

Maryland State Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone said in a statement that she doesn’t think voters who already cast their ballots by mail should worry, but said using a drop box will ensure ballots are counted on time. Mail-in ballots need to be postmarked by Nov. 3, and will need to get to election officials by Nov. 13 to be counted.

“While we don’t anticipate any issue with ballots already cast by mail, we are closely monitoring reports from the United States Postal Service that delivery times continue to be considerably longer than normal,” Lamone said. “In light of this, as we approach Election Day, we encourage voters to drop off their ballot at an authorized drop box. This will allow them to be confident their vote will be received and counted in a timely fashion.”

A total of 284 ballot drop-off boxes are scattered throughout the state for the upcoming election, including outside of every early voting center. Voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to use the drop-off boxes.

On Monday, the first day of early voting in Maryland, voters waiting in line at jurisdictions across the state told Maryland Matters that fears over Postal Service delays led them to cast their ballots in person.

The warning from state election officials came on the same day that Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, and Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, slammed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over mail delays.

In a release, the pair blamed DeJoy for the slow mail delivery. DeJoy previously came under fire for a slew of operational changes at the Postal Service that led to mail delays over the summer, including slashed overtime and the removal of mail sorting machines from facilities across the country.

DeJoy, a wealthy donor to President Trump, said he’d postpone any “longstanding operational initiatives” until after the election. Maloney and Connolly, however, say DeJoy hasn’t done enough to prepare the Postal Service for the election.

“Despite his assurances, the Postmaster General has failed to fix the problems he created and cannot be relied on for the on-time delivery of Election Mail,” Maloney said. “At this point, Americans should either vote in person or drop their ballot in an official drop box to avoid their ballots not being delivered on time.”

More than 1.6 million Marylanders requested mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election, according to data from the State Board of Elections. As of Wednesday, more than 1.07 million of those ballots have been returned to local boards of elections.

Marylanders who requested a mail-in ballot can still cast an in-person provisional ballot if they choose. If local boards of elections receive a mail-in ballot and a provisional ballot from the same voter, however, only the mail-in ballot will be counted.

On Wednesday alone, 159,246 Marylanders had cast in-person early voting ballots or provisional ballots. On Monday, the state saw a single-day early voting turnout record shattered as more than 161,000 voters flocked to the polls. Tuesday saw more than 153,000 voters casting early or provisional ballots.

By Bennett Leckrone

With less than a month until the Nov. 3 election, state election officials say they are ready to “rock and roll” as preparations wrap up.

The last of Maryland’s roughly 19 million ballots for in-person voting will arrive at local boards of elections across the state on Friday, Deputy Election Administrator Nikki Charlson told members of the State Board of Elections during a virtual meeting on Thursday. Mail-in ballots are being delivered to voters on a rolling basis, with more than 1.3 million requested as of Wednesday.

“We’re at the endgame,” State Board Chairman Michael R. Cogan (R) said.

Board members approved a last-minute regulatory change during the meeting, allowing voters with mail-in ballots to turn them in at early voting centers. Voters who get mail-in ballots can now submit ballots at in-person Election Day and early voting centers, return them by mail or drop them off at ballot boxes across the state.

Charlson said voters don’t have to use a ballot box in their home jurisdiction, and can submit their ballot at any of the roughly 280 boxes scattered across the state. She said local boards will make sure every ballot gets to the right place after they’re collected.

The State Board of Elections won’t meet again until after the election — and board members used their final meeting to laud state and local election staff for their work in setting up the election.

Many local boards of elections faced major obstacles in preparing for the election. In addition to dealing with thousands of vacant poll worker positions, local election officials had to scramble to find locations for the state’s more than 300 voting centers with little notice after state officials shifted away from regular polling locations.

“I’m about as confident as you can get that this train is loaded up, and will arrive at its destination on time,” Board Vice Chairman Patrick J. Hogan (D) said.

Cogan said the election is now in the hands of local election workers, and invoked a famous photograph of General Dwight D. Eisenhower speaking with paratroopers just before the invasion of Normandy in World War II before addressing election staff across the state.

“In any struggle, and this is a struggle between people and process, but in any struggle the side that prevails is the side that refuses to yield,” Cogan said, “That, when exhausted, keeps going.”

By Bennett Leckrone

Elections Officials’ Advice: Bring Mail-in Ballots to Drop Boxes

Md. Elections Officials Say They’re Ready to ‘Rock and Roll’

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