(The Center Square) – Maryland election officials approved ballot-counting procedures Wednesday after a mail ballot printing error led to replacement ballots being sent to hundreds of thousands of voters ahead of the June 23 primary election.
The Maryland State Board of Elections unanimously adopted canvassing guidelines outlining how original and replacement ballots will be handled as early voting began Thursday across the state.
According to the board, mail ballots were first sent May 9 to voters who requested them on or before May 6. Election officials later discovered a coding error involving the state’s mail ballot vendor resulted in some voters receiving the wrong party ballot.
In a May 18 statement, the board said the vendor could not determine which voters received incorrect ballots and which received correct ballots. As a result, replacement ballots were issued to all potentially affected voters.
The board said production of replacement ballot packets began May 19 and mailing was completed by May 29.
Minnesota-based Taylor Print & Visual Impressions Inc., the state’s ballot vendor, acknowledged the error in a public statement, saying “a portion of voters received ballot packets intended for a different voter segment.”
The company said it has implemented additional quality-control and verification measures to help prevent similar problems in the future.
State election officials said safeguards are in place to prevent more than one ballot from being counted. Voters who received replacement ballots were instructed to use the replacement ballot and destroy the original ballot.
The canvassing guidelines approved by the board establish procedures for reviewing original and replacement ballots to ensure only one ballot is counted for each voter.
Early voting runs through Thursday.
“Early voting is a secure and convenient option for casting your vote in the primary election,” Maryland State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis said in a statement. “We typically experience strong turnout for early voting, so I urge every Marylander considering this option to plan ahead.”
