MoCo Council Urges Hogan To Support Mail-In Ballots In November

ROCKVILLE, MD — Montgomery County's council on Tuesday passed a resolution imploring Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to support vote-by-mail efforts in the November general election.

According to a news release from the council, the resolution asks Hogan to send all registered Maryland voters a ballot with prepaid return postage for the Nov. 3 election. It also asks that touch-free ballot drop boxes be provided so voters can safely return completed ballots while limiting interaction with others.

Lastly, the resolution asks that decisions about early voting sites and polling places — including the overall number of those sites — be made by local election boards with the input of county health officers.

“Maryland should learn from June’s primary election and build on it for November,” Council Vice President Tom Hucker said in a statement. “Substantially changing the procedures for the general election now will confuse voters, undermine confidence, add costs and create unnecessary health risks for voters, staff and volunteers. We urge the state to reconsider.”

The resolution comes in the wake of Hogan's July 8 announcement ordering polling places across the state to open as usual. County officials, however, fear the state will be unable to recruit enough poll workers and election judges to maintain in-person voting.

In asking that ballots be sent to every registered voter, the council also hopes to minimize the stress numerous absentee ballot applications could have on the election system.

“Preserving the right to vote while taking appropriate steps to ensure public health is one of the foremost challenges of this crisis," Councilmember Nancy Navarro said in a statement. "We urge Gov. Hogan to consider the lessons learned during the 2020 Presidential Primary Election and use them to serve as key guidance to implement a successful mail-in 2020 Presidential General Election. The Council stands ready to provide whatever assistance it can at the local level to ensure our democratic process operates as smoothly as possible, with as few barriers as possible for eligible voters.”

Maryland has operated under a state of emergency since March 5, and Montgomery County has seen 16,433 cases of the new coronavirus and 743 deaths. In the release, council members said in-person voting puts the livers of voters and poll workers at risk.

“There is absolutely no reason for Maryland residents to have to choose between fighting COVID-19 and exercising the right to vote,” Councilmember Hans Riemer said in a statement. “The state should mail every voter a ballot that they can fill out and return well in advance of Election Day. That will make it easy for everyone to cast votes safely at home.”