MD Election Results Fair, Early Voting Worked, Patch Readers Say

MARYLAND — More than half of Maryland Patch readers voted absentee and dropped off their ballots for the recent election, according to an informal reader survey Patch conducted this week. Nearly 52 percent used this option. More than 31 percent voted early in person, nearly 9 percent voted by mail and 7.5 percent voted in person on Election Day.

A total of 1,479 Maryland Patch readers responded to the survey published Tuesday. The survey, which appeared in questionnaire form on Patch, is not meant to be a scientific poll but only to give a broad idea of public sentiment.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Maryland State Board of Elections encouraged voting by mail or ballot drop box to avoid person-to-person transmission of the virus. Around the state 284 ballot drop boxes were available for voters 24/7 in the weeks leading up to the election.

"I think the election drop boxes were accessible," wrote one Maryland Patch reader, who went to the Howard County Board of Elections office in Columbia.

Nearly 92 percent of those who voted by absentee ballot received it after requesting it by mail, while 5 percent said they were automatically sent a ballot and almost 3 percent said they had not requested one.

Overall those who went to the polls and voted in person said things went smoothly, particularly during early voting, which ran from Monday, Oct. 26, to Monday, Nov. 2.

"I voted on the first day of early voting at the McFaul Sr. Center in Harford County," said one person, who reported being in line at 6:34 a.m. before the 7 a.m. opening time and was back in the car by 7:25 a.m. "I had no problems because the people working there were very organized."

Others in Baltimore County and Montgomery County also reported smooth sailing during early voting.

"I voted at Wheaton Library on first day of early voting. It was so easy. Many efficient workers," one Montgomery County respondent said.

"We were in and out in about 10 minutes," wrote another, who voted early at Towson University. "Thank you volunteers and organizers!"

About 10.3 percent of those who responded to Patch's survey said some things went well and others not so well at the polls, while 2.7 percent said things went poorly.

One respondent who did not specify a polling center wrote that a "2 hour wait is unacceptable," noting: "I saw many handicapped people and older people in line that took hours to get through."

Another respondent who identified as handicapped said she and her husband were ushered through in 20 minutes.

In Montgomery County, elections personnel posted online how long people were waiting in line at each center to vote and created an app for tracking this so they could plan accordingly.

Another online service election officials began offering this year statewide was the tracking of ballot status.

Nearly 86 percent of respondents to Patch's survey said they were able to track their mail-in ballot status online while 4 percent could not. About 10 percent said they did not know.

"I received via email 2 days after I dropped my ballot off confirmation my vote received and processed," one reader wrote. "Then a week later received confirmation my vote had been counted. Thank you and it made me feel very good about the voting process here in Baltimore."

By Election Day, more than 91 percent of those who took the Patch survey and voted absentee said they were notified their ballots had been received.

Several respondents said their ballots had been received but not necessarily counted.

"I dropped off my ballot at Honeygo and got notice that it was received but never received confirmation that my vote was counted. Very disappointing," wrote one Perry Hall voter.

"Here it is November 10, a week after the election, and my ballot has been received but not yet accepted," said another, who cast a ballot at a drop box in Gaithersburg. "Apparently counting will go on until Friday. If my ballot has still not been accepted by Friday, I am going to raise holy hell. I received the ballot by email, printed it out, and put it in an envelope and deposited it in the ballot box at Bohrer Farm Park in early October — over a month ago. This is ridiculous."

According to the Maryland State Board of Elections, this is to be expected.

"While local boards of elections could begin canvassing mail-in ballots received as early as Oct. 1, they received a large volume of ballots while also conducting the election. It is standard for mail-in/absentee and provisional ballots to be counted after the election," officials said. "Every ballot is always counted and this is always completed in the days following the election. The local boards of elections continue to count ballots received every day that canvass is scheduled until all ballots are counted."

About 43.1 percent said they felt more confident after voting by mail and 44.2 percent of those surveyed said their sentiment was unchanged.

"Voting by mail was easy, safe and convenient. There were no hassles, no fraud and I felt confident in the entire process," one person wrote.

About 12.7 percent said they felt less confident.

"I requested a mail-in ballot in Montgomery County but it arrived too late to meet the mail deadline. I went to Gaithersburg Board of Elections instead, where they gave me a replacement ballot and let me vote there in-person," wrote one person, who self-identified as a provisional election judge. "I know many people who applied for mail-in ballots did not get one because of problems that my county's contractor had in meeting the huge demand; and therefore had to come on election day to apply for a provisional ballot. (The pollbooks showed them as having received a mail-in ballot.)"

More than 51 percent of respondents said they believed voting by mail should be made easier in the future and an additional 9.1 percent somewhat agreed.

"While I greatly support the option to send in ballots, the issue with timeliness by the U.S. Postal Service was called into question," one person said. "I made the extra effort — which I should not have to do — to drive to a designated ballot drop box. That option is not easy for many voters and should not preclude them from safely voting."

The Maryland State Board of Elections began advising voters in late October that their ballots may not meet the deadline of being postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 13 if they put them in the mail because of unusually slow delivery times reported by the postal service.

More than 20 percent of those who took the Patch survey believe it should not be easier to vote by mail and 7.1 percent felt strongly about it.

Survey respondents tended to have more confidence in the Maryland's election results than the national election results, with 64.9 percent strongly agreeing they were confident in Maryland's election results versus 60.7 percent having confidence in the national results.

The Associated Press called Joe Biden the winner of the presidential race on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Due to the high volume of mail-in ballots in Maryland, state election officials say they will be canvassing beyond Nov. 13 deadline before certifying the official results here.

Baltimore City's Board of Elections reported Wednesday its provisional ballot canvass was to begin Thursday but "due to the amount" of provisional ballots, officials anticipated it would take multiple days. As a result, they said they "will not certify the results on Friday as planned."

Related:

• Patch Survey: How Did 2020 Voting Go For You In Maryland?
• Election Results Delayed In MD's 5 Largest Jurisdictions: Report
• MD Congressional Election Results: Mfume, Hoyer, Harris, Sarbanes