More than 90,000 Montgomery County residents already have applied for ballots in the upcoming November presidential election, according to Margaret Jurgensen, Montgomery County Board of Election Director.
She could not say how long it will take to process those ballot requests, because the number of requests continues to increase.
As of now, there will be 11 early voting sites throughout the county. Early voting will run from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3, it was announced during the Board of Election’s Aug. 17 meeting. There will about 30 voting sites on Election Day. Details are being worked out to include the Montgomery Conference Center at the Marriott in North Bethesda.
In previous elections, residents had to go to their assigned voting place. In November, voters can cast their ballots at any site in Montgomery County. Many are expected to vote at their local high school.
The county is still short of election judges to handle all the sites, although 272 people have applied in recent days, Jergensen said. Currently, there are 232 chief judges who will work on election day, and 1,324 judges available to assist that day.
During early voting, 35 chief judges and 1,050 judges are available to fill the various positions. This election, some workers will be assigned to the lines to enforce social distancing.
The Board has ordered drop boxes for voters to place their ballots at many high schools, early voting sites and Rockville City Hall. However, Jergersen noted that the manufacturer of these drop boxes has not promised it can provide as many as the county would like.
The boxes are in high demand throughout the state and country, especially in light of media reports that the U.S. Postal Service may not be handle a huge demand of mail in ballots from people not wanting to vote in person due to the global pandemic.
