As The Baltimore Sun recently reported, Maryland relies on thousands of retirees to work at the polling places but, because of COVID-19, many of those experienced workers will not work the November election (”Local election officials in Maryland look at slashing number of polling places due to election judge shortage,” July 29). This means that voters may discover that their polling place might not open on time or at all, and will be understaffed or staffed with inexperienced workers who were rushed through training. This will mean long lines and mistakes in the voting process.
At its July 23 meeting, the State Board of Elections expressed a desire to press Gov. Larry Hogan on his promise to encourage state workers to serve as election judges, but noted that some counties may have too few state workers to make up the difference. The board also discussed the possibility of consolidating polling places on an emergency basis, noting that local boards are reporting that some facilities will not be available on November 3. This chaotic situation will create uncertainty that will discourage voters from participating.
We all wish we could hold an ordinary election, but with COVID-19 hospitalizations increasing across the nation, we cannot be sure that it will be safe to vote in person in November. Without automatically sending ballots to voters’ homes as we did in April and June, voters must act now to protect their health and their right to vote. Make your request early. Go to the State Board of Elections website — elections.maryland.gov/voting/absentee.html — to apply for a mail-in ballot. Applying early will help ensure that your ballot arrives on time.
And call on Governor Hogan to change his order to direct that ballots be mailed to all voters and replacing precinct polling places with vote centers in each county to make voting more accessible for those who must vote in person.
Ralph Watkins, Silver Spring
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