It’s been more than two weeks since voters finished casting ballots in the city’s mayoral primary election, and State. Sen. Catherine Pugh was declared the winner. But the votes still haven’t been finalized. The state refused to accept the tallies as is on Thursday, meaning it ain’t over yet.
Concerns about “irregularities” started surfacing about the race started last week. Second place finisher Sheila Dixon said she had her own concerns, raising the specter of a recount. But earlier this week, the city certified the results that showed Pugh victorious. On Wednesday, Dixon released a statement saying she wouldn’t call for a recount after all. Observers were declaring the race over at that point. But the state stepped in with their own concerns on Thursday.
According to a statement from the administrator of the state’s board of elections, the state is set to decertify the primary election results because of “discrepancies” found in some of the election data.
The Baltimore Sun’s Luke Broadwater reports that the issue traces to 80 provisional ballots that were not analyzed, and initial evidence that there were a higher number of ballots cast than people who checked in at the polls.
As a result, the state will be reviewing election data for every election precinct in the city. Translation: This could take a while.
Dixon said she is “pleased” by the additional investigation.
