A Maryland judge’s ruling on Sept. 23 allows election officials to begin counting mail-in ballots on Oct. 1 to prevent anticipated delays in the general election.
“There is no doubt that the increased number of mail-in ballots will have an enormous effect on the process of this election,” Montgomery County Circuit and County Administrative Judge James Bonifant said in his ruling. “Mandatory deadlines will be missed if the court takes no action.”
After jurisdictions in the state were overwhelmed with mail-in ballots during the primary election which caused a four-week delay, the State Board of Elections petitioned for a judicial order that would suspend an exclusive Maryland state law that prohibits ballot processing before two days after an election.
With the new ruling comes hope that the general election results won’t experience such extreme delays. In a statement, the board said that “This ruling provides election officials with additional time to canvas and tabulate these ballots to ensure that all critical election-related deadlines established by law are met.”
Bonifant issued the ruling that granted the judicial order after a lengthy civil hearing on Sept. 20. During the hearing, the Republican nominee for Maryland governor, Dan Cox, filed an opposition arguing that the judicial branch does not have constitutional power to make election decisions.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed a bill in May of 2022 that would have permanently removed the wait stipulation for mail-in ballot counting. After the ruling was announced, Hogan made a statement concurring with Bonifant:
“We welcome Judge Bonifant’s decision allowing the State Board of Elections to institute early canvassing for the general election, as I did in 2020 during the pandemic,” he said. “It worked well in that election, but partisan legislators dropped the ball on adopting our successful approach, making this step necessary.”
For more information about mail-in voting registration and deadlines visit the Montgomery County Board of Elections website.
