GLEN BURNIE, Md. — Across the state Monday, canvassers began to count the mail-in ballots for June's primaries. Though delays, confusion, and even concerns about the integrity of the election have arisen due to a vendor error just weeks before the election.
About two weeks ago, the Maryland State Board of Elections alerted voters they'd be sending out replacements after the error sent some ballots for the incorrect party. Those began hitting mailboxes last week.
Because of it, in Anne Arundel County only a few bipartisan teams were needed for the first canvass in order to count just 427 web-delivered ballots. Meanwhile, the county has received 4,042 mail-in ballots that were sent out before the state's decision to void and resend them, according to director David Garreis.
Following vendor error original mail-in ballots sent in will count, but it will have to wait
Garreis tells WMAR-2 News they've been physically separated and will remain uncounted for the time being. That's because the system is configured to only accept ballots in envelopes with the new tracking numbers.
"We would encourage everyone to get their replacement ballot back to us if they get it. The reason being, we can count the replacement ballots right away, and then we can get the results announced as soon as possible," Garreis said. "The original ballots are going to have to wait until after all the other ballots are counted."
That wouldn't likely be until July 6, nearly two weeks after primary day.
A total of 49,159 voters in Anne Arundel County have requested mail-in ballots. Statewide, the total number is more than 500,000.
Garreis assures that only one vote per voter will be counted as the election board will verify with the voter registration rolls. The same goes for checking the voter's registered party, and if it matches their ballot.
An In Focus look at Maryland mail-in ballot numbers
“I don't think this is an integrity issue ultimately. I do think it's a voter confusion issue," said Donald Tobin, an election law professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
Despite the state board’s transparency about the issue, Tobin says the mistake has been used to sow distrust, even though he believes it shouldn’t. President Trump even calling the ballots "fake"online.
While inconvenient, the error was caught before any ballot was cast, Tobin notes.
"We just need to like take a deep breath and recognize that this was a mistake. It's not a partisan mistake. It's not a mistake that was designed to disenfranchise voters, and we just need to move forward with the best system we can," Tobin said. "Nobody is trying to hide that the mistake has happened... They're working really hard to resolve a problem and that's what they should be doing."
The next canvass day in Anne Arundel County will take place on Friday, June 12, which is expected to be an even busier day as more replacement ballots are anticipated to be returned.
Ballots postmarked by primary day on June 23, or handed in by 8 p.m. that night will be counted in the election.
