State Roundup: Elections Board to ask court to allow early mail-in vote counting, cites long delays in results

State Roundup: Elections Board to ask court to allow early mail-in vote counting, cites long delays in results

BOARD OF ELECTIONS SEEKS RIGHT TO COUNT MAIL-IN VOTES EARLY: Members of the Maryland State Board of Elections voted Monday to take legal action that, if successful, would allow local election officials to begin counting mail-in ballots earlier. Such a change could reduce delays seen in last month’s primary, when results were unsettled in some races for days and even weeks. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.

  • After certifying the primary results in a meeting Monday afternoon, the Board of Elections voted unanimously, saying absent action, vote counting in the November general election — which will, among other things, determine Maryland’s next governor — could stretch well into the holidays. Karina Elwood/The Washington Post.
  • The Board of Elections, meeting via video on Monday, voted unanimously to file the emergency request in court. The board will have to prove that counting mailed ballots ahead of time is in the best interest of the voting public and will maintain the integrity of the elections. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
  • Maryland’s extended counting of ballots came after Gov. Larry Hogan (R) vetoed a bill passed by the General Assembly that would have allowed processing and counting of mail-in ballots eight days before early voting started in the July 19 primary. Danielle Gaines/Maryland Matters.
  • In Montgomery County, election workers spent more than 10 days counting about 75,000 mail-in ballots, which led to delays in posting final results from the July 19 primary election. Steve Bohnel/Bethesda Beat.

COX TEMPERS TONE ON FBI OVER MAR-A-LAGO SEARCH: Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), the GOP nominee for governor, said Monday that he has no beef with FBI agents carrying out their duties, but does have a problem with “the politicians who are giving the orders” that lead to controversial searches of private property. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.

OPINION: HOGAN’s BIZARRE ‘DEFENSE’ OF TRUMP: There must be some mainstream Republicans who are willing to criticize former President Donald Trump for walking out of the Oval Office with top secret documents then blasting the FBI for trying to get those documents back. You wouldn’t find many on the Sunday shows. Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who rightly criticized his fellow Republicans for rushing to Trump’s defense, bizarrely insisted on ABC’s “This Week” that the incident is a “win” for Trump because he is being martyred. Jennifer Rubin/The Washington Post.

HOGAN RAISES DEBT RELIEF ON HOMEBUYER PROGRAM: As home prices rise, buyers can now eliminate up to $50,000 of their student debt under Maryland’s SmartBuy program, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday. Previously, buyers purchasing a home through the Maryland Mortgage Program could get rid of up to $30,000 of student debt under the Maryland initiative meant to encourage millennial homeownership. Cassidy Jensen/The Baltimore Sun.

MHEC OVERHAUL CALLED FOR: Maryland should reconsider rules that allow public universities to object to the creation of new education programs, according to a newly released report to the General Assembly. The report calls for a systemic overhaul of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. It also specifically highlighted the commission’s rules on allowing public institutions to essentially block proposals of other universities. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.

GUN GROUP AGAIN SEEKS COMPENSATION FOR OUTLAWED BUMP STOCKS: A Maryland gun rights group is taking another shot at gaining financial compensation from the state for individuals compelled to surrender their bump stocks when the General Assembly banned possession of the devices that can be placed on firearms to make them fire faster. Steve Lash/The Daily Record.

STATE DROPS CHARGES AGAINST 23 CORRECTIONS OFFICERS: The state dropped charges late Friday against 23 correctional officers for alleged misconduct in office and abuse of power. This comes more than two and a half years after a grand jury indicted the officers on allegations of misconduct in office, abuse of power and assault, among other charges. Barry Simms/WBAL-TV News.

BIDEN TO RALLY DEMOCRATS IN MARYLAND: President Biden will speak at a Democratic National Committee event in Maryland next week, rallying voters ahead of November’s midterm elections. It will be Biden’s first political rally in months and will serve as the kickoff to his fall midterm push. Erin Cox/The Washington Post.

FREDERICK COUNCIL CANDIDATE TO APPEAL DISQUALIFICATION: Nearly a month after the primary, Frederick County Democrats who live in County Council District 3 still don’t know who their nominee for the fall campaign will be. And due to a bizarre set of circumstances that the head of the county’s Democratic Central Committee called “unique,” it may be several days more before a nominee emerges. Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.

  • Jazmin Di Cola said in a social media post over the weekend that she would appeal a judge’s decision to disqualify her from the Democratic primary for District 3 of the Frederick County Council. The ruling from Frederick County Circuit Court Judge Julia Martz-Fisher came Friday, after an eight-hour hearing in which lawyers representing Council President M.C. Keegan-Ayer argued Di Cola was ineligible because of her residency. Jillian Atelsek/The Frederick News Post.

About The Author

Cynthia Prairie

cynthiaprairie@gmail.com
https://www.chestertelegraph.org/

Contributing Editor Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor since 1979, when she began working at The Raleigh Times. Since then, she has worked for The Baltimore News American, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Prince George’s Journal and Baltimore County newspapers in the Patuxent Publishing chain, including overseeing The Jeffersonian when it was a two-day a week business publication. Cynthia has won numerous state awards, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s Gavel Award. Besides compiling and editing the daily State Roundup, she runs her own online newspaper, The Chester Telegraph. If you have additional questions or comments contact Cynthia at: cynthiaprairie@gmail.com

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