In a memorandum to City Clerk Bonita Anderson, City Solicitor Todd Pounds details methods of voting in the city council election.
In the City of Greenbelt there are three methods of voting: (1) voting on election day, (2) early voting and (3) mail-in voting. There are rules that must be followed for each method.
For election day and early voting the process is straightforward. Voting is all in person. For mail-in voting the voter must submit an application and they will be given a ballot to submit for their vote.
The Board of Elections is tasked to run a fair and just election for all of the candidates. The board is also obligated to run the election as efficiently as possible. The board in this election established a preliminary date, September 27, for the submission of mail-in applications. This was to encourage as many people as possible to have as many votes as possible submitted as early as possible. However, any voter requesting a mail-in ballot after September 27 will be given an application by the clerk’s office and, upon completion, be given a mail-in ballot.
Thus, while the Board of Elections has encouraged all voters to submit mail-in applications by September 27, under adopted board rules and procedures, voters can still submit applications and be given ballots after that date.
This process makes mail-in voting easier and more available for the public. These are the additional rules and procedures established for mail-in voting, and voters who are unable to follow the mail-in process can still vote by early voting or on election day.
If the Board of Elections had not established the September 27 date, the clerk’s office staff would possibly be overburdened with substantial last-minute votes, and that would adversely affect the efficiency of board and clerk’s office staff in their work determining the results of the election. This is especially true since the application and ballot are available to every voter, upon request, even if they fail to submit the application by September 27.
Mail-in voting, early voting and election day voting were established by council and the Board of Elections to facilitate voting on a broad scale. If the board or clerk’s office are notified in any way prior to election day that a voter cannot comply with any of these methods, then accommodations will be sought. However, the three voting methods now available offer voters as wide a set of options as feasible to allow as many as possible to vote by election day.
Greenbelt’s mail-in process, having voters receive an application and then a ballot prior to election day, makes voting simple. The September 27 date constitutes guidance by the Board of Elections, is not mandatory and does not in any way foreclose a voter’s rights or ability to use the mail-in method.