Overview
- Early voting in Maryland closed Thursday, June 18, and the primary is set for Tuesday, June 23 with same-day registration available and mail ballots due by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
- Five unaffiliated voters have filed a constitutional challenge of the state’s closed primary system and the case is pending before the Maryland Appellate Court.
- The governor’s office has said he supports the closed-primary rules while the attorney general’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit.
- A vendor printing error forced the replacement of more than 437,000 mail ballots and prompted the State Board of Elections to use special counting rules that delay the canvass of original mail ballots and prioritize replacement ballots.
- The outcome could change who can vote in party primaries and affect turnout, ballot verification and the timing of certification for races that include the governor’s contest, all eight U.S. House seats and every seat in the Maryland General Assembly.