HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The deadline for voter registration for November's general election is Tuesday, Oct. 18. Here's what Howard County voters need to know.
Statewide races include those for governor, comptroller and attorney general. Federal contests feature battles for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Chris Van Hollen, who is challenged by Republican Chris Chaffee.
Voters will decide the next county executive and county council members, along with school board members. Several seats in the Maryland General Assembly are also up for grabs.
Voters can see which districts they live in by using this tool. That resource also lets Marylanders their:
Voter registration closes on Oct. 18. Marylanders can register or update their information at this link.
Marylanders can request a ballot to return by mail or dropbox. Those ballots can be delivered by mail or fax.
Voters can also download their ballot from the state's website. Find a sample ballot online for Howard County.
Residents can request a ballot by:
The deadline for ballot requests to be received, not just sent, is:
Ballots received over the internet must then be printed. Voters should then return their completed ballot by mail or dropbox. Marylanders cannot cast their votes online.
Residents can return their completed ballot by:
More information on mail-in and dropbox voting is available on this website.
Early voting will run from Oct. 27 through Nov. 3. Early voting centers will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. each day.
Marylanders can vote early at any early voting center in their county. A full list of early voting centers is posted here.
All the candidates are posted below.
Patch asked every county executive and County Council candidate to complete a questionnaire. The names of candidates who completed our survey are linked to their responses.
We also included all the campaign websites listed on the Maryland State Board of Elections candidate portal.
County Executive
County Council District 1
County Council District 2
County Council District 3
County Council District 4
County Council District 5
County State's Attorney
Sheriff
Board of Education (two seats)
Governor
Comptroller
Attorney General
State Senate District 9A
State House of Delegates District 9A (two seats)
State House of Delegates District 9B
State House of Delegates District 12A (two seats)
State Senate District 12A
State House of Delegates District 13 (3 seats)
State Senate District 13
U.S. Senate
U.S. House District 3
U.S. House District 5
Yes. Several court positions and party central committee seats are also on the ballot. A full list of every race in Maryland is posted at this link.
For any other questions, visit elections.maryland.gov.
Marylanders will decide five ballot measures in the Nov. 8 general election. The one with the widest impact is the question of whether recreational marijuana should be legal, known as Ballot Question 4.
If passed, residents 21 and older could use and possess up to 1.5 ounces of usable cannabis or 12 grams of concentrated cannabis on or after July 1, 2023.
More than half of Maryland's registered voters support legalizing recreational marijuana, multiple polls suggest.
The other statewide ballot measures, as explained by Ballotpedia, if approved would:
The exact wording of each ballot question is listed here. A non-technical summary of each question is available on this webpage.
Several jurisdictions also have local ballot questions. Howard County's single question, by petition, would:
The general election day is Nov. 8. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Residents must vote at their assigned polling place on election day. Voters can look up their polling place by using this search tool.
To read more about the general election, visit this website.
Election officials will not certify the final results for at least 10 days. Officials must wait for every mail-in and provisional ballot to come in.
Soon after polls close on Nov. 8, the Maryland State Board of Elections will release the jurisdiction-specific tallies from in-person early voting and mail-in ballots counted up to Election Day.
Officials will start releasing the Election Day vote counts over the following hours on election night.
All 24 jurisdictions will start releasing their early voting and Election Day tallies on Nov. 8. Only 10 will release the mail-in ballot results tallied before Election Day.
The Maryland Court of Appeals on Oct. 7 ruled that local election offices can opt to start counting mail-in ballots before Election Day. They cannot release these results until after polls close on Election Day, and they must continue accepting ballots until the statewide deadline of Nov. 18 at 10 a.m.
These jurisdictions plan to conduct pre-Election Day canvassing of mail-in ballots: Baltimore City and Allegany, Baltimore, Calvert, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's, Saint Mary's and Washington Counties.
Fourteen jurisdictions do not have the space or personnel to count early mail-in ballots as they arrive.
These counties will start canvassing their mail-in ballots on Nov. 10, which is two days after Election Day: Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Garrett, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester.
"We appreciate the diligence of the local boards in assessing the most appropriate canvassing approach for their individual teams and always placing the integrity of the election process above all else to ensure the will of Maryland voters is heard through their votes," Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone said in a press release.
Election officials will tally provisional ballots on Nov. 16. Mail-in ballots will be counted as they arrive until Nov. 18. Local boards cannot certify their results before Nov. 18.
Here is some more coverage of Maryland's biggest races:
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