ANNAPOLIS (Oct. 8, 2020) – The Maryland State Board of Elections today announced the ballot counting schedule as well as the availability of a webpage that will allow voters and journalists covering the election to see daily updates on the number of mail-in ballots that have been received across the state.
While canvassing of ballots – which includes the opening and counting of ballots – could begin on Oct. 1, results of ongoing canvassing will be embargoed until vote centers close on Election Day, Nov. 3. After vote centers close on Election Day, results from early voting (Oct. 26 to Nov. 2) and results from mail-in ballots counted up to Election Day will be released. In subsequent hours on Election Night, results from in-person Election Day voting will be released.
It is important for members of the public and the media to understand that, because the general election in Maryland is being conducted primarily by mail, a complete count of voters will not be available on Election Day. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 3; however, properly submitted ballots will be accepted until Nov. 13.
After Election Day, updated results will be released each day that ballots are counted. Not all counties may count ballots every day, but updates will be provided every day that ballots are counted. Counting of provisional ballots will start on the second Thursday after the election. These results will be announced when they are counted.
The Maryland State Board of Elections began sending ballots to state voters in late September. Ballots will continue to be sent to voters via U.S. Mail as ballot applications are received and processed. Applications for mail-in ballots must be received by Oct. 20.
Daily updates of sent and returned mail-in ballots are available here under the “2020 Presidential General Election Reports” heading. Results are updated in both PDF and Excel format and are broken out by various categories for public review.
Included in the daily tally of ballots will be mail-in ballots submitted via ballot drop box. Ballot drop boxes for local boards of elections’ offices, early voting locations and additional locations in the most populous Maryland jurisdictions were delivered from Sept. 28 through Sept. 30. Additional boxes will be delivered between Oct. 15 and 17, and a final group of boxes will be delivered between Oct. 22 and 24.
Each Maryland jurisdiction will have at least two ballot drop box locations available to voters. Voters can submit their completed mail-in ballots in any drop box located in their jurisdiction of residence. Once open, drop boxes will remain open until Election Day, Nov. 3, at 8 p.m. In all, 282 ballot drop boxes will be available at 281 locations around the state. Two ballot drop boxes will be available at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
