Despite concerns from state and local election officials about the practicality and safety of staffing polling places in November, Gov. Larry Hogan on Wednesday ordered them to run a regular, in-person election with every precinct open to its voters on Election Day.
To accommodate anyone who feels unsafe casting a ballot in person because of the coronavirus pandemic, Hogan also ordered the State Board of Elections in a letter to mail each voter an application for an absentee ballot.
He said on the “C4 Show” on WBAL-AM on Wednesday that a “normal” election would resolve problems Maryland had in the June 2 primary, which was mostly a vote-by-mail format in which ballots were automatically sent to 4 million eligible voters choosing nominees for offices such as president and mayor of Baltimore. Some voters said they didn’t receive ballots in time, and there were long lines at in-person voting centers and at ballot drop boxes on primary day.
“We’re very frustrated with the way the election was handled in the primary by the State Board of Elections and the city board of elections,” Hogan said. “Mistakes were definitely made, and it was unacceptable and inexcusable that they screwed up so much with respect to getting the ballots out on time and getting them out to everybody.”
Amy Cruice of the ACLU of Maryland said despite the hiccups with some ballots arriving late or having errors, the primary was a success from the standpoint of voter participation. Turnout was high, and 97% of those who voted did so with their mailed ballots, she said.
“We will lose all of the gains we made in the June primary, in terms of being able to give people a safe and accessible way to vote,” said Cruice, who runs the ACLU’s election protection program in Maryland.
She said voters may be confused by the switch in formats from one election to the next, or not understand what the application is when they receive it.
“People will assume they are ballots and set them aside, and by the time they open it and realize it’s an application, it may be too late,” Cruice said.
Another voting rights advocate said Hogan’s decision will sow “chaos” in November and muddle crucial messaging needed to help voters participate.
Requiring voters to fill out an application for a mailed ballot creates a hurdle voters didn’t face during the primary, said Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland. She said that when the District of Columbia tried this approach for its primary, many voters didn’t receive a ballot. For the fall election, the District plans to mail a ballot to every voter.
Antoine also questioned how local elections boards can staff every polling place in Maryland. Typically, many poll workers are retirees, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus.
“How do we plan on filling all these gaps for all of the election workers? A lot of them were high risk to begin with,” she said. “It’s chaos. I don’t know how else to put it.”
Hogan rejected the input of the state elections board, as well as local elections officials. While the board was divided along party lines as to whether the state should send absentee ballot applications (the option Republican appointees favored) or just mail out ballots without waiting for requests (which had the support of the board’s Democrats), it was united in saying it could not execute a “traditional” election with each of the state’s approximately 2,000 precincts open.
Local election officials wrote to the board and to the governor, asking them to again hold a mostly vote-by-mail election.
Top state elections administrators did not respond Wednesday to requests for interviews.
The appointed Maryland State Board of Elections issued a brief statement saying it will follow Hogan’s orders.
“The board will move forward with plans for a traditional general election on November 3rd and will expand efforts to promote voting by mail, early voting, and voting at off-peak times,” the statement said. “The board will continue to work closely with local boards of elections, stakeholders and the general public to conduct a safe and accessible general election.”