BALTIMORE — Howard Rowry saids he completed the training and cleared his schedule for the week expecting to be an early voting election judge in Baltimore City.
Thursday morning he learned that wouldn't be the case.
As voting precincts buzzed with energy and excitement on the first day of early voting, one man who planned to be apart of it all is surprised he's not there.
Rowry spent quite a bit of time handling the paper work checking off the boxes to ensure he could be an election judge.
“I have nothing but time on my hands. I wanted to make sure that I could be part of the process of being a judge,” said Rowry.
Rowry tells WMAR-2 News when he completed the required paper work, he was given the option to judge during early voting this week, primaries in July, as well as the general election in November.
Rowry selected all three, but when the time came to get his assignment after two weeks of calling in, by Thursday morning, he still hadn't received one.
Thursday, he received a response saying he wouldn't be a judge for early voting because he didn't complete the training to be eligible, which he disputes.
"As you see, there's my paper work right here that shows you that I did in fact go to the training with the understanding that I would be apart of all three of the voting process dates," said Rowry.
When we checked with the board of election's office, they said assignments are not communicated until the classes are completed and just because a person takes a training, doesn't mean they'll be hired to be an early voting judge.
Adding early voting judge assignments tend to go to those who have worked previous elections.
It's information Rowry says he wishes he would’ve received weeks ago.
“They give you the choice of early voting, primary, and general election that they should’ve have indicated that if you are volunteering for early judge, its does not guarantee you to be apart of the process of early judge based on those that have come before,” he said.
Rowry tells WMAR-2 News he still intends to judge this year's elections, but it just won't be this week.
Baltimore’s Board of Election’s Director said the city is still short about 1,000 election judges.
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