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Rumor Control - For answers to common rumors about home foreclosures, campaign merchandise, name on your voter registration card, registering to vote as a college student, permanent absentee voting, and registering before each election please see our rumor control page.
These are the most frequently asked questions about Election Day.
Any registered voter may vote by absentee ballot. (See “How do I apply for an absentee ballot below.”)
Important Note: If you complete and submit this form, you must affirm on the oath that is returned with your voted ballot that you "will be absent or unable to vote in person in the election." If you will not be absent or are able to vote in person in the election, you should not complete and submit this form and should plan on voting at your polling place on election day.
You may be able to vote by absentee ballot. (See “How do I apply for an absentee ballot” below.)
Yes. The person desiring to vote may apply in person or through a duly authorized agent. (See “How do I apply for an absentee ballot” and “Can someone else pick up my ballot” below.)
Beginning on the Wednesday preceding the election through 8:00 p.m. on election day, a registered voter or the voter's duly authorized agent may apply in person for an absentee ballot at the office of the local board.
You can download an application from SBE’s website or pick one up from your local board of elections. The completed application must be hand delivered to the local board of elections.
A qualified applicant may designate an agent to pick up and deliver the absentee ballot. The agent:
A voter who requires assistance in casting an absentee ballot by reason of disability, inability to write, or inability to read the ballot may be assisted by any individual other than:
A person assisting a voter in completing an absentee ballot must execute a certification and include that certification with the completed ballot. Contact the local board of elections in the county of residence of the voter for details on this process.
With your absentee ballot, you will receive detailed instructions on how to complete the ballot. Please read these instructions and either (1) return the voted ballot to your local board of elections by 8:00 p.m. on election day; or (2) mail the voted ballot on or before election day.
Yes. Absentee ballots must be mailed on or before election day.
Maryland’s touchscreen voting system allows for independent voting by most voters with disabilities. An audio ballot, magnified and contrasting text, and an adjustable touch screen to accommodate those voters who prefer to sit while voting, are all available with this voting system.
You may vote by absentee ballot. You will need to go to the local board of elections office to request and receive an absentee ballot.
For future elections, you can request to be reassigned to an accessible polling place. Refer to local board of elections office or website for Request for Accessible Polling Place form.
Yes. (Article 2B, Alcoholic Beverages)
Yes. You may have assistance in the polling place casting your ballot because of a physical disability or an inability to read the English language. Assistance will be given, if requested, by two election judges or you can bring someone with you. The person you bring with you may not be your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your union.
Yes, you make take up to two children who are in your care into the voting booth with you provided they are under the age of 13 and they do not cause a disruption or interfere with normal voting procedures.
A line will be established by the election judges and you must be behind that line. The line will be located as near as practicable to 100 feet from the entrance and exit of the polling place.
However, a voter may wear campaign paraphernalia (buttons, t-shirts, or stickers) into the polling place while he or she is there to vote (the voter may not linger in the polling place after voting). An election judge, challenger and watcher, or other person stationed inside the polling place or within 100 feet of the polling place may not wear or display campaign materials.
No. Maryland law prohibits the use of camera cell phones, pagers and computer equipment in a polling place.
Yes, under the following conditions:
It depends. You will be asked to provide identification if:
If you registered to vote after January 1, 2006, you most likely satisfied the identification requirement during the registration process. If you did not satisfy the requirement, your local board of elections will have notified you and requested information to satisfy the identification requirement. (See list below.)
You can satisfy the identification requirement by providing, at the polls, one of the following:
If you do not satisfy the identification requirement before voting for the first time, you will be required to present identification when you vote.
Federal law requires Montgomery County to provide election materials in Spanish. Prince George’s County offers election materials in Spanish. Non-English materials may be provided in other jurisdictions on a voluntary basis. Contact your local board of elections to determine what is available in your jurisdiction.
Yes. A voter may take any written or printed material into the polling place that will assist with marking or preparing the ballot.
No. Election judges are prohibited from bringing newspapers, radios, or televisions into the polling places. It is possible that newspaper articles and radio and television reports regarding the projected outcome of races may have an effect on voters in the polling place. (State Board of Elections Policy)
Yes, with certain limitations and prior approval.
Voters are required to vote where they reside. If your voter registration is up-to-date, you can refer to the polling place locator to find your polling place.
However, if you moved (more than three weeks before the election) and did not update your voter registration information, you will need to contact your local board of elections to find out your proper polling place (based on your new residence address). You will be required to vote a provisional ballot at the new polling place. If you moved less than three weeks before the election, you may vote at the polling place for your old address or vote a provisional ballot at your new address.
Throughout Maryland, polls are open continuously from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. on election day. Anyone in line at 8:00 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
A candidate, political party, or other group of voters supporting or opposing a candidate or issue on the ballot has the right to designate a Maryland registered voter as a challenger and watcher at each polling place. A certificate signed by the designating authority is sufficient evidence of the right of such challenger and watcher to be present in the polling room.
The two principal political parties (democrat and republican) are required by law to choose their candidates for the general election in primary elections. Although it is up to the parties to decide who may vote in their primaries, generally only registered voters affiliated with a principal political party may vote in that party’s primary election.
Generally, you must be registered with a party to take part in the party’s primary election.
If I apply to register to vote before my 18th birthday and the primary election comes before that birthday, may I vote in that election?
If you will be 18 years old by the next general election and you are registered to vote with the Democratic or Republican Party, you may vote in the primary election that precedes it, even if you are not yet 18. For more information on the right of 17 year olds to vote in the primary election - http://www.elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/17_year_olds.html
Yes, but it is too late to change your party affiliation for this election. The deadline to change your party affiliation was November 19, 2007.
To change your party affiliation, submit a new voter registration application or a written request to your local board of elections. If you request a change in party affiliation after November 19, 2007, your request will be held at the local board of elections and processed when registration reopens after the primary election.
Submit a new Voter Registration Application checking off the party affiliation change box or a signed written request to your local board of elections. Since the deadline to change your party affiliation has passed (it was November 19, 2007), your request to change will be held until registration reopens after the primary election.
A provisional ballot is a safeguard to ensure that an individual who asserts that he or she is registered and eligible to vote will not be prevented from voting. A provisional ballot will only be counted after the local board of elections has reviewed the provisional ballot application and determined that the individual is registered and eligible to vote. You must be eligible to receive a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot cast by a voter who was ineligible to vote provisionally may be rejected. A provisional ballot is not an alternative to the electronic voting system.
The most common reason that an individual’s name is not on the precinct register is that the individual moved and did not update his or her voter registration. For your full provisional ballot to be counted, you must be registered in the State of Maryland and you must cast your provisional ballot in the precinct in which you currently reside.
If you are asked for identification and are unable or unwilling to provide it, you will be issued a provisional ballot. Your provisional ballot will be counted if you submit one of the following forms of identification before provisional ballots are canvassed on the 1st Monday after the election:
If your voter registration application is pending because you have not met the federal verification requirements, you will be issued a provisional ballot. Your provisional ballot will be counted if you provide:
This information must be provided before provisional ballots are canvassed on the 1st Monday after the election.
You are ineligible to vote a regular ballot if:
Maryland law authorizes a poll watcher to challenge a voter’s identity. If your identity is challenged and you are unable to provide the required identification, you will be asked to complete an affidavit to confirm your identity and be issued a provisional ballot. The challenger will also complete an affidavit indicating the basis for his or her challenge. The provisional ballot will be counted if the local board of elections determines that you are the registered voter you claim to be and are eligible to vote.
If you vote during extended election hours (i.e. a court ordered extension), you will be issued a provisional ballot. Your vote will be counted if the local board of elections confirms that the order extending the election was valid.
To cast a provisional ballot, you must complete and sign the provisional ballot application (instructions will be provided by an election judge) and vote the provisional ballot provided by the election judge. Once you have voted the ballot, you will seal it inside the provisional ballot application envelope and deposit the envelope into the provisional ballot bag provided by the election judge.
Your ballot will remain sealed in the provisional ballot application envelope until the local board has completed its review of your application. If the board concludes that your ballot should be counted, it will be removed and separated from your application so that your vote will be kept secret.
You may either call 1-800-222-8683 or visit this website to find out if your provisional ballot was counted and, if not, the reason. This information will be available 10 days after the election.
Yes, in certain circumstances. In every election, every employer shall permit any registered voter employee a period not to exceed two hours absence from work on election day if the employee does not have two hours of continuous off-duty during the time that the polls are open. The employer shall pay the employee for the two hours absence from work. The employee shall furnish to the employer proof that he/she has voted.
To register, you must: Be a U.S. citizen;
* The court-imposed sentence includes probation, parole, community service, and restitutions.
Certain U.S. citizens who live overseas or are in the military are eligible to register and vote in Maryland. If you are an overseas citizen, military personnel, or dependent of military personnel, you may register to vote in Maryland if your current or last U.S. residence was in Maryland. To register, use either the Federal Post Card Application (available at www.fvap.gov) or a Maryland voter registration application (available at www.elections.state.md.us).
It is, however, too late to register to vote for the 2008 primary election. You are not qualified to be a registered voter if you have been convicted of a felony and are in the process of serving a court-ordered sentence of imprisonment, including any term of parole or probation for the conviction. However, once you are done serving the court-ordered sentence you may register and vote. It should also be noted that a person convicted of buying or selling votes is not qualified to register and vote, even after fulfilling the court ordered sentence.
You should contact the clerk’s office of the court where the trial was held, as well as the Division of Parole and Probation within the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services or a comparable agency in the state in which you were convicted.
For calls on election day, the deadline to register to vote for this election has passed.
A voter registration application may be submitted to your local board of elections or the State Board of Elections at any time. However, an application must have been postmarked by January 22, 2008, to vote in the primary election and, must be post marked by October 14, 2008, to vote in the general election.
If you submit a voter registration application during the period that registration is closed, your application will be held at the local board of elections and processed when registration reopens. For the 2008 elections, registration will be closed from January 23, 2008, to February 25, 2008, and October 15, 2008, to November 17, 2008.
Download a Voter Registration Application and fill it out following the instructions provided with it. All applications must be signed and returned to your local board of elections or to the State Board of Elections. Under Maryland’s election law the voter registration application must contain an original signature and can therefore not be faxed.
You may complete a voter registration application in person at:
Yes. You may print an application from this website or contact your local board of elections or the State Board of Elections to request an application.
In addition to basic identifying information, federal law requires that you must provide a Maryland driver’s license or MVA ID Card number or, if you do not have a driver’s license number, at least the last four digits of your social security number on your voter registration application. Your application will NOT be processed unless you provide this information or affirm, under penalty of perjury, that you do not have a driver’s license or social security number.
You have the option to register with any of Maryland’s recognized political parties. If you do not choose to register with a party, you will be considered as “Unaffiliated.” If registered as unaffiliated or with a party other than the Democratic or Republican party, you will generally not be able to vote in primary elections, but you will be able to vote in any nonpartisan primary election held in your jurisdiction, such as a primary election to select nominees for the board of education.
Go to the polling place locator and type in the caller’s name, birth date, and zip code.
An individual is considered a registered voter when you receive your Voter Notification Card from your local board of elections. If you do not receive your card three weeks after you submit an application, you should contact your local board of elections.
Registration is permanent as long as you continue to live in Maryland and keep your name and address current with your local board of elections. You do not have to re-register when you move within the State, but you must keep your address current.
You must notify the local board of elections where you currently live if your voter registration information has changed. If you complete a change of address form at the MVA, this information will be sent to your local board of elections for processing, unless you indicate that you do not want to change your voter registration information. You can also send changes on a voter registration application or on any other signed written notice. If you do not receive a Voter Notification Card with your updated information three weeks after you submit information, you should contact the local board of elections where you now live to ensure that your records are up-to-date.
Notify your new local board of elections of your address change by submitting a new Voter Registration Application or a signed written notice.
Changes in registration information are sent to your local board of elections if you complete a Change of Address form at the Motor Vehicle Administration and do not indicate on that form that you do not want to change your voter registration information.
Please note that it is your responsibility to make sure that your voter registration change has been received and processed. Accordingly, if you do not receive your new Voter Notification Card within three weeks, contact your local board of elections.
Applying to register at the MVA is only the 1st step in getting registered. You are not registered until you received your Voter Notification Card
The League of Women Voters and major newspapers may produce a guide. In a general election, all local boards of elections are required to send to each registered voter a specimen ballot. You can also find a list of candidates on this website.
Yes. A voter may take any written or printed material into the polling place that will assist you with marking or preparing the ballot.
It depends. In the primary election, you are only permitted to vote for candidates of the same party with which you are registered. In the general election, you can vote for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.
Only if there are non-partisan contests in your jurisdiction. Non-partisan contests include school board, municipal offices, and local ballot questions.
If the following conditions apply, you will be asked to provide identification:
On election day, all voters in Maryland use the same touchscreen voting system. With a touchscreen voting system, you touch the screen to make, change, and review selections and cast a ballot.
Instructions will be available at the polling place locations to familiarize you with the ballot. You may ask an election judge to explain how to vote on the voting system, but unless you are unable to do so because of disability, inability to write, or inability to read the ballot, you alone must cast your vote.
For absentee voting and provisional voting, voters use a paper-based optical scan voting system. With this system, a voter is issued a paper ballot and completes the oval next to the candidate or ballot question response for which the voter wants to vote. At the local board of elections, the ballot is fed into a scanning unit, which reads and tabulates the selections made by the voter.
Every registered voter will receive a specimen ballot in the mail approximately five to ten days before the general election. Also, a sample ballot is available online through the polling place locator.
Instructions and a listing of the candidates are posted at the polling place.
The State Board of Elections does not keep or relay information about candidates other than what is required from them when filing for office. For biographical or background information on candidates, please refer to the press or your political or citizen organization of choice.
Use polling place locator.
Congressional and legislative maps for members of Congress and the Maryland General Assembly currently in office are available from the Maryland State Archives:
Legislative Maps:
www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/07leg/map/html/map.html
Congressional Maps:
www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/39fed/dist/html/2002.html
If you still have further questions, please contact us.