MARYLAND - As early voting in Maryland begins June 11, Senate Republicans are asking for an emergency hearing on recent mail-in ballot errors.
In May, an "undetermined" number of the 437,000 people who requested mail-in ballots received the wrong party ballot. Maryland law requires canvassing, or the counting of mail-in ballots, to begin June 1 and continue through the first day of early voting, creating challenges for the State Board of Elections. The primary election is June 23.
Senate Republicans sent a letter to Senate President Bill Ferguson and Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee Chairman Brian Feldman on June 10, demanding an emergency hearing before June 23 on the issue.
"The General Assembly should not wait for certification and a post-mortem. Voters are confused right now, today, and the legislature has both the authority and the responsibility to demand answers on their behalf," the letter stated.
Because the board of elections could not identify which voters received correct ballots, replacement ballots were sent to all 437,000 affected voters. But Senate Republicans say that this has not resolved the issue.
Many voters have run into different issues such as receiving three separate ballots, returning incorrect ballots before a replacement arrived and receiving incorrect replacement ballots, according to the letter. CoastTv reached out to the board of elections and received an automated message explaining that only replacement ballots are being counted to maintain election integrity and avoid multiple ballots from being counted.
Senate Republicans also expressed concern about the risk of multiple ballots being counted, and said that this situation needs legislative oversight.
"Voters in those districts have one meaningful opportunity to choose their representative, and that opportunity is the one now compromised by this error. The stakes of getting this right are not abstract," the Senate Republicans wrote.
