MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND — The Montgomery County Board of Elections replaced more than 437,000 mail-in ballots last month due to a vendor error. An undetermined number of voters received ballots that did not match their party registration.
David Naimon, president of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, said, "We're getting a lot of questions about that." Substitute member Lawrence Halloran explained that state-issued replacement ballots feature a unique bar code intended to prevent double counting. Early voting for the Maryland primary election started on June 11 and continues through June 18.
Halloran said, "We know it's a second ballot. The first one is put aside. It's not counted unless and until it's determined that nothing else has come in from that voter." The Maryland primary Election Day is set for June 23.
Voters who mail a ballot and then vote in person will need to complete a provisional ballot and additional forms. These provisional ballots will not be tabulated until after July 6; the deadline for counting ballots is July 6 at 10 a.m. Halloran said, "So, it's best to really get that replacement ballot and vote it."
Public mail-in ballot canvassing requires bipartisan teams to open ballots. Naimon said, "A lot of good information about this and other subjects is available at the county website." He added, "If you do choose to vote in person for early voting, the busiest time is the last day, especially in the last hours of the last day. During early voting, you can check the current wait times on our website or by texting EV and your ZIP code to 77788."
No independent assessment was available for this report.