With less than three months until the general election, Marylanders may be wondering how they will be able to cast their ballot as the coronavirus pandemic persists.
Unlike during the primary election, the state will not automatically mail a ballot to every eligible voter for the general election.
Instead, Maryland residents will receive an application which they must fill out and return if they want to vote by mail.
Voters can also go online now to check their voter registration status and request a mail-in ballot through the Maryland State Board of Elections website.
Maryland Speaker of the House Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) last month released a video showing people how to request an absentee ballot online before applications are even sent out.
SBE’s website doesn’t make it easy to request your mail-in ballot online. I made this video to show you step-by-step how to make your request. Take time to request your ballot.
I urge SBE to streamline this process so voters won’t need a tutorial video to exercise their right. pic.twitter.com/xzvkI3qZRY
— Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (@SpeakerAJones) July 20, 2020
Maryland Democratic leaders have voiced concerns that recent changes to the United States Postal Service’s operations could be a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to hinder the election, Maryland Matters reported.
“They’re trying to make it harder for people to vote,” U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin said at a press conference on Monday. “That’s unconscionable in a democracy.”
In order for residents to vote by mail, their ballot application must be received by Oct. 20.
The state elections board is encouraging voters to return their applications early.
Maryland will begin mailing ballots at least 30 days before Nov. 3 to individuals who requested one.
Both the ballot applications and the mail-in ballots themselves will be sent via first-class mail, according to elections officials.
“While voters’ ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day, ballots are timely as long as they are received by Friday, Nov. 13 — 10 days after Election Day,” elections officials wrote in an Aug. 12 statement.
Elections officials added that voting by mail is encouraged during the pandemic.
“The Board continues to encourage all Marylanders to cast mail-in ballots as a precaution during the COVID-19 state of emergency and to do so in a timely manner,” they wrote.
Lawmakers and advocates have repeatedly urged Gov. Larry Hogan to mail ballots directly to all voters, rather than making them apply for a ballot first, but Hogan has not budged on the ballot applications.
Once they receive their mail-in ballot, voters will be able to fill it out and mail it in or submit it at a designated ballot drop-off location.
For voters who do not want to vote by mail, the state will be opening about 360 in-person voting centers across Maryland.
Hogan had originally called for the opening of about 1,600 polling sites. But after local elections officials expressed concerns about the shortage of thousands of election judges, the governor approved a plan from the Maryland State Board of Elections that reduced the number of in-person voting locations.
Early voting will run 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily from Oct. 26 until Nov. 2 at about 80 early voting sites across Maryland.
The in-person voting centers will be open on Nov. 3, Election Day, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
