Comment on this story
Comment
As scrutiny of closely watched Maryland state and local races that hinge on mail-in ballots intensified Thursday, Montgomery County Elections spokesman Gilberto Zelaya had to lay down some ground rules.
“Lava,” Zelaya said, stepping over a line in the gray carpet. “Safe,” he said and stepped back. “Lava, safe,” he repeated.
Zelaya used the schoolyard game to prevent about 20 observers and reporters from interfering with the canvassers as they began the difficult process of checking tens of thousands of ballots sent by mail – by hand.
Ballot counts are expected to take weeks, state officials said, with the Democratic primary for Montgomery County governor and executive and multiple lower-vote races hanging in the balance.
Election officials statewide were barred from starting to count more than 250,000 ballots until the Thursday after Election Day, a delay Democrats blamed on Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who vetoed legislation that would have sped up the process. In his veto letter, Hogan said the bill would have allowed voters who failed to sign their ballots to provide a signature in person, by mail, email or text message, compromising election security.
The veto complicated an already challenging primary. A redistricting lawsuit pushed the election itself back several weeks, to mid-July, when many voters were on vacation and too distracted to follow statewide races, let alone local races. In addition, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has caused staff shortages and disruptions to training.
Hogan defends veto amid delayed Maryland election results
Sen. Sheryl K. Kagan (D-Rockville), who introduced the bill that Hogan vetoed, joined the watchers in Germantown.
“It was completely predictable,” said Kagan, who wore a face mask with the word “vote” written in sparkles.
“I am disappointed in the mess Governor Hogan created by vetoing my legislation that would have allowed for early processing of mail-in ballots,” she said. “Having said that, I’ve always been inspired by democracy.”
The survey began in earnest around 10:30am with loud chatter interrupted by the sound of the Omation Model 306s Envelopener opening 50 newsletters per clip.
The agitators sat at the tables teams made up of two people of different affiliations: a Republican and a Democrat, a Republican and an unaffiliated voter, or a Democrat and an unaffiliated voter. Most were experienced precinct chief justices – people trained to follow the sometimes complex rules of conducting fair elections – with a few young democracy enthusiasts.
Voters in Montgomery County requested about 115,000 mail-in ballots. As of Wednesday, the election commission had received 33,650 ballots, but officials expect more to come. Ballots can be accepted until 10 a.m. July 29, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, July 19.
On Thursday, election officials transported 13,000 completed mail-in ballots to a multipurpose room in the Bioscience Education Center on Montgomery College’s Germantown campus. Because the ballots are considered “clean” by the campaigners — meaning they are not torn, stained or otherwise defaced — the ballots will be transported to a central election office in Gaithersburg to be counted and the results uploaded to the state’s website at -late, said Zelaya, the election spokesman.
By 1 p.m., two ballots were provided to council members for consideration. In one case, the voter signed his ballot — a “no-no” in a secret ballot system — and in the other, the voter circled the names of two candidates and crossed out one.
A process that could have taken weeks was delayed a bit more by the heat, which kept some elderly campaigners at home, reducing the brigade to 16 teams instead of the 19 expected.
“The key word for the next three weeks is patience,” Celaya said. “You wouldn’t rush to a heart surgeon.”
The campaigns had no choice but to wait.
In the race for Montgomery County Executive, incumbent Mark Ellrich and a Potomac businessman David Blair was in a tight primary race for the Democratic Party – just like four years ago – and both camps sent their campaign managers to the campaign trail. Last time Elrich won with 77 votes.
“Mark is always very positive, he’s very patient, so I follow his lead,” said Elrich’s manager, Teresa Wurman, who wore a VOTE necklace.
“We’re on standby like everyone else,” Blair spokesman Aaron Kraut said. “We have faith in the electoral process.”
Carina Ellwood contributed to this report
Add Comment