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Just over a week ahead of Maryland鈥檚 primary election, voters are trickling into early voting centers and dropping ballots in mailboxes and dropboxes throughout the state.
But when will election results be known?
There could be a delay in clear election results this primary, the result of a dramatic shift by voters to mail-in ballots and the veto of a bill that would have allowed elections officials to start processing those ballots before election day.
The popularity of mail-in balloting exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, when mail ballots were sent to every voter during the 2020 primary and a mail-ballot application was sent to everyone for the general election.
In 2020, an emergency executive order by Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) tied to the pandemic allowed local boards of election to start counting mail-in ballots more than a month before election day.
More than 1.4 million mail ballots were counted in the primary election and more than 1.5 million were tallied in the general.
The General Assembly passed a聽聽this year that would have allowed ballot processing and counting of mail-in ballots eight days before early voting started.
But Hogan聽, citing concerns that it lacked 鈥渂asic security measures鈥� for mail-in balloting, including signature verification, a common practice in other states, or a prohibition on ballot harvesting.
鈥淭he governor is a strong supporter of early canvassing 鈥� which he authorized in 2020 鈥� and had the legislature sent him a clean standalone bill, he would have been amenable to signing it,鈥� Ricci said.
As a result of the veto, the first canvass of mail ballots allowed under existing law would begin on the Thursday after the primary election. A final canvass is anticipated on July 29.
Hogan was urged last month by the bill鈥檚 sponsor, Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery), to take executive action again this year to once again allow early counting of mailed ballots.
鈥淢y worry in all of this has been reinforcing the conspiracy theories. We鈥檙e all used to getting election results on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning,鈥� Kagan said. 鈥淚f they can鈥檛 open the envelopes until Thursday at 10 a.m. 鈥� it could be a week or more before we get election results.鈥�
But the governor鈥檚 office said the conditions don鈥檛 exist for him to change election deadlines by declaring a state of emergency under聽.
The State Board of Elections could have pursued legal action to change the canvassing dates, but decided not to in late June.
State Board of Elections Chair William G. Voelp (R) said the board鈥檚 decision not to go to court was because 鈥渢he timeline was unbelievably narrow.鈥� Getting a case heard and decided likely wouldn鈥檛 have been done fast enough to allow for a meaningful pre-Election Day processing or vote-counting period, he said.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures,聽聽this election year that specifically prohibits processing mail-in ballots before the polls close on Election Day. Thirty-three states allow counting of mail-in ballots on or before Election Day.
Some local officials have expressed concern about Maryland鈥檚 reporting timeline this year, given the potential volume of mail ballots, which take longer to process.
More than 10 times as many mail-in ballots have been requested this year compared to 2018, the last time the current rules were used for counting mailed ballots.
About 490,000 mail-in ballots had been requested as of Saturday; in 2018, about 30,000 mailed ballots were cast.
鈥淚t鈥檚 safe to say it鈥檚 going to be a long process for this primary,鈥� said David Garreis, president of the Maryland Association of Election Officials. 鈥溾�he way we do it, starting that Thursday after Election Day, is a very old-fashioned anachronism from back in the day.鈥�
He cautioned that the initial results voters see on Election Day could change as ballot canvassing continues.
鈥淲hat you see on election night 鈥� once we get done counting all the ballots, the results could change,鈥� Garreis said.
That鈥檚 especially true for 鈥渄own-ballot鈥� races like county council seats where the electorate is smaller.
In recent years in Maryland, several elections have been decided by very slim margins, including two county executive primaries in 2018 鈥� in Montgomery and Baltimore counties 鈥� that were decided by fewer than 100 votes.
Voelp, chair of the state elections board, noted that election night vote totals have never been final.
鈥淥ne of the reasons we don鈥檛 certify elections until [10 days] after is so that every vote that can be legally cast is counted,鈥� Voelp said. 鈥溾�hether it is a provisional ballot that canvassers decided to accept or any mail-in ballot, every vote will be counted. Every vote.鈥�
The state board plans to pursue a solution to allow for early ballot processing before the November general election, Voelp said.
Mail-in ballots may be postmarked through the July 19 primary date, or returned at dropboxes throughout the state. A list of dropbox locations is聽.
聽across the state are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. through July 14.
About 1.5% of Maryland voters have visited early voting centers across the state since Thursday, casting more than 59,000 ballots.
