Judge grants elections board request to count mail-in ballots as they arrive. [View all]

A Montgomery County circuit court judge sided with the state Board of Elections on Friday, ruling that Maryland elections officials may process and count mail-in ballots as they come in. In granting the election board’s petition, Chief Administrative Judge James Bonifant accepted their argument that the expected deluge of mail-in ballots would result in a weeks-long delay before results could be tabulated, potentially creating turmoil. He rejected arguments advanced by attorneys for Del. Dan Cox (R-Frederick), the GOP candidate governor.

“There is no doubt that the increased number of mail-in ballots will have an enormous affect on the process of this election,” said Bonifant, in a ruling he delivered from the bench. “Mandatory deadlines will be missed if the court takes no action.” He stressed that his ruling applies only to this year’s elections. The ruling followed a two-hour hearing that was held on Tuesday.

Speaking for the elections board, Assistant Attorney General Dan Kobrin warned that if elections officials were forced to let ballots pile up, untouched, until Nov. 9, the day after the election, charter counties like Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore would likely not know by their December inauguration days which candidates for top local offices received the most votes.

Attorneys hired by Cox opposed the board’s request. They argued that the laws governing elections procedures are clear, and that only the General Assembly has the power to change them. Under current law, mail-in ballots must sit unopened until the day after Election Day.'

https://www.marylandmatters.org/2022/09/23/judge-grants-elections-board-request-to-count-mail-in-ballots-as-they-arrive/?