MARYLAND — The Maryland State Board of Elections announced that it has shipped more than 1.1 million ballot packets to voters for the 2020 Presidential General Election.
To expedite delivery to voters, ballot packets are being shipped to Maryland and then entered directly into the local mail stream as first-class U.S. Mail.
Ballots will continue to be sent to voters via U.S. Mail as ballot applications are received and processed.
There is still time for eligible voters to request a mail-in ballot. Applications for mail-in ballots were mailed to eligible voters in August and September.
Applications must be received by local boards of elections by October. 20. Voters are encouraged to leave five business days for their application to reach their local board of elections.
Voters may also request a mail-in ballot via the Board’s online system by visiting elections.maryland.gov and clicking “Request a Mail-In Ballot.”
The Board today voted to update the contingency plan for the electronic pollbooks. This change was necessary to reflect the use of Election Day vote centers, instead of neighborhood polling places.
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On Election Day, the local boards of elections must provide another way to check in voters in case the electronic pollbooks fail to work as expected.
The back-up options are either a laptop with the list of eligible voters in that jurisdiction or a printed list of eligible voters. A similar contingency plan is in place for early voting.
Voters can drop off voted ballots at ballot drop box or vote centers. Before returning a voted ballot, voters must place the ballot in the envelope that accompanied it and sign and seal the envelope.
A list of 2020 voting center locations can be found by visiting elections.maryland.gov and clicking “Voter Centers.”
To learn about the many ways to participate in the 2020 Presidential Election, visit elections.maryland.gov/2020.
