Dramatic changes in how Maryland will vote in the November general election for President and Congress were made official just last week. The Maryland State Board of Elections met Wednesday, August 12 in an emergency session and ratified new dates for the general election and a new strategy for voting, using the emergency powers Governor Larry Hogan gave them to conduct the election.
Hogan wrote: “I have issued a proclamation granting the State Board of Elections the authority it is seeking to create voting centers for use during early voting and on Election Day, at the sole discretion of the Board. My only direction to you, under existing law, was to expand and encourage voting by mail by immediately mailing absentee ballot requests to every voter.”
The significant change from the June primary, when all registered voters were mailed ballots, is that now, for the general election, all Marylanders must specifically make a formal request on a signed application form to receive a mail-in ballot.
Because the State Board anticipates that most people will still opt for mail-in voting, the Board will mail ballot request forms to all registered voters with a postage pre-paid return envelope beginning the last week in August. This will not be the ballot itself, but rather a form to request the ballot be sent to the voter’s current address, in a two-step process.
Most election officials expect most people to return the request form for a mail-in ballot.
For those who would rather vote in person and do not send back the mail-in request form, the next big change for in-person voting is that early voting will now begin on Monday, October 26, and be conducted at voting centers within each county; anyone registered in that county may go to any voting center in the county to vote.
There will be nine continuous days of in-person voting beginning on Monday, October 26 through Tuesday, November 3 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be no gap between early voting days and election day, Tuesday, November 3.
Normally the state opens close to 2,000 separate precincts for a general election. Currently the estimate of voting centers statewide is expected to be about one-tenth of that number, or 200 for the minimum number of early voting center locations, but they will be open for the nine days. The plan is that this will spread out the possible lines and require far fewer staff and locations to operate, and that people will not wait until the last day. The State Board anticipates that most people will opt to vote by mail, so that the in-person voting is mainly for newly registered voters or those whose requested ballot has not arrived by mail.
The specific locations are now being finalized and will be publicized for each county in the next few weeks. Prince George’s County should have a minimum of 11 early voting centers, although a county official confirmed this week that they are still working on possibly 20 to 29 additional centers for election day. Greenbelters could use any of the voting centers within the county. The State Board specifically asked that all public high schools be used, if possible, in addition to the other early voting centers each county has used in the most recent years on election day, if possible. Each county is to report back over the next week or so to the State Board to finalize voting center locations.