Maryland Officials Can Count Mail-In Ballots Before Election Day: Judge
September 27, 2022 | Maryland
Mail-in ballots in Maryland can be counted before Election Day, a judge has ruled.
Maryland Circuit Judge James Bonifant wrote in an 11-page ruling on Sept. 23 that while state law says officials can’t start tabulating mail-in ballots until “8 a.m. on the Wednesday following Election Day,” waiting that long would mean results couldn’t be verified within 10 days after an election, as required by another law.
Bonifant granted a request from the Maryland State Board of Elections, which claimed that a one-time suspension of the former law was required because of “emergency circumstances.”
Counting of mail-in ballots after primary elections earlier this year led to delayed election certifications, and without the ability to start counting absentee ballots before Election Day, local, statewide, and federal contests might not be certified until late December or January 2023, the board said in a statement in August, as it filed a petition with the court…. (Excerpt from The Epoch Times)