Politics & Government
Elrich Urges Residents To Vote By Mail In 2020 General Election
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich is urging residents to vote by mail to minimize the spread of COVID-19.
BETHESDA, MD — To minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich is urging residents to vote by mail in the 2020 election.
"Voting — and how best to vote — has been a subject dominating the news lately — even though the Nov. 3 election is more than 10 weeks away," the Democrat said in a statement. "The best choice to have your vote efficiently counted — and to stay safe when voting — is to vote by mail-in ballot."
In a video accompanying the statement, Elrich explains how to vote by mail.
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"Soon all registered voters in Maryland will be receiving an application for a mail-in ballot. you can either return that application or request a mail-in ballot from the State Board of Elections' website at elections.maryland.gov. On the application, please choose mail-in ballot," he said.
The through email or internet delivery choices, he added, is recommended for residents who have disabilities or live overseas.
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"I am emphasizing this point because the email-internet version requires a bipartisan team of poll workers to review the ballot and then hand-copy the ballot before those votes can be counted," Elrich said. "These days, many things are more efficient when done over the internet. Voting in the 2020 election is not one of them. Too many votes via internet link will unnecessarily complicate the election process and will also delay the counting of the votes, potentially for days."
Registered voters must submit requests to get a mail-in ballot by Tuesday, Oct. 20. They will receive a ballot plus an envelope with postage paid.
For those who don't want to cast their ballot by mail, there will be drop-boxes at 11 early voting sites and other places across the county. Those locations will be listed on the ballot.
Early voting will take place Monday, Oct. 26, to Monday, Nov. 2.
Voters can also cast their ballot in person. Elrich says there will be about 40 sites in the county on Election Day.
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