Chapter 05. Canvass of Ballots — Rejecting Ballots
Regulation .01 Vote Required.LinkCopy Citation
A.
In General. Neither an absentee ballot nor any vote on it may be rejected except by unanimous vote of the local board.
B.
Abstention. If a member of the local board abstains from voting, the decision of the local board is unanimous if all other members vote for the same outcome.
Regulation .02 Voter Intent.LinkCopy Citation
If a ballot is not marked specifically in accordance with the instructions provided to the voter, the local board shall:
A.
Follow the standards established in COMAR 33.08.02; and
B.
Appropriately mark or duplicate the ballot for tabulating acceptability.
Regulation .03 Ballot Rejection — Basic Grounds.LinkCopy Citation
The local board shall reject an absentee ballot if:
A.
The ballot was not timely received;
B.
The voter failed to sign the oath required by Election Law Article, §9-310, Annotated Code of Maryland;
C.
The local board determines that an absentee ballot is intentionally marked with an identifying mark that is clearly evident and placed on the ballot for the purposes of identifying the ballot;
D.
The ballot was issued to an agent and was not in a sealed envelope when returned; or
E.
The voter was required to submit personal identification information under COMAR 33.11.02.07 but failed to submit that information before the absentee ballot canvass began, in which case the absentee ballot shall be treated as a provisional ballot properly applied for and canvassed insofar as possible under the procedures in COMAR 33.16.05.05, 33.16.05.06, and 33.16.06.
Regulation .04 Ballot Rejection — Multiple Ballots from the Same Individual.LinkCopy Citation
If a local board receives multiple ballots from the same voter, the local board shall canvass the ballots as follows:
A.
If a single return envelope contains more than one ballot from the same individual for the same election, all ballots from that individual shall be rejected.
B.
If more than one ballot is received from the same individual in different envelopes:
(1)
If the signed oaths have different dates, the local board shall:
(a)
Count the ballot with the earliest signed oath date that the local board determines is legally sufficient; or
(b)
Reject all ballots if none of them are legally sufficient.
(2)
If the signed oath associated with one ballot is dated and the signed oath associated with the other ballot is either undated or indecipherably dated, the local board shall count the ballot with the dated oath and reject the ballot with the undated or indecipherably dated oath;
(3)
If the signed oaths all have the same dates or all have indecipherable dates the local board shall:
(a)
Count the first ballot it received if that ballot is legally sufficient;
(b)
If the first ballot it received is not legally sufficient, count the ballot it received next if it is legally sufficient; or
(c)
Reject all ballots if the ballots were received on the same date.
(4)
If one of the ballots received is a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot:
(a)
If both ballots are timely, only the State ballot shall be counted; but
(b)
If only one of the ballots is timely, the timely ballot shall be counted as long as the timely ballot is not rejected for other reasons.
C.
Except as provided as in §D of this regulation, if an absentee ballot and provisional ballot are received from the same individual, the local board shall count the first ballot the voter cast if the ballot is legally sufficient and reject any other ballot.
D.
If the local board receives an absentee ballot after a provisional ballot or absentee ballot from the same voter has been counted, the local board shall reject the absentee ballot.
Regulation .05 Ballot Rejection — Unusual Marking Device.LinkCopy Citation
A.
Duplication.
(1)
Absentee ballots may be marked by any kind of pencil or ink.
(2)
Certain types of pencil or ink, however, might not be readable by optical scanning equipment. Accordingly, ballots not marked with the appropriate pencil or ink should be referred by the local board to the duplication team.
B.
Possible Rejection. In a specific case, the local board may consider the particular pencil or ink used to be unusual enough to be considered an attempt to intentionally identify the ballot.
Regulation .06 Ballot Rejection — Unsealed Envelope.LinkCopy Citation
The local board may not reject a ballot solely because its envelope was unsealed unless:
A.
The ballot had been issued to an agent; or
B.
There is some indication that the integrity of the electoral process has been compromised.
Regulation .07 Ballot Rejection — Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot.LinkCopy Citation
A.
The local board shall reject a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot if:
(1)
The Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot was not timely received;
(2)
The voter failed to sign the oath accompanying the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot;
(3)
The local board determines that the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot is intentionally marked with an identifying mark that is clearly evident and placed on the ballot for the purposes of identifying the ballot;
(4)
The voter was required to submit personal identification information under COMAR 33.11.02.07 but failed to submit that information before the absentee ballot canvass began, in which case the ballot shall be treated as a provisional ballot properly applied for and canvassed insofar as possible under the procedures in COMAR 33.16.05.05, 33.16.05.06, and 33.16.06;
(5)
The Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot was submitted by an overseas voter who is not an absent uniformed services voter and was submitted from within the United States; or
(6)
The local board counted the voter's State absentee ballot.
B.
In a general election, the local board may not reject a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot or a vote on a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot solely because the absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter wrote in the name of a political party, in which case the ballot or vote on the ballot shall be counted as a vote for the candidate affiliated with political party written by the voter on the ballot.
Regulation .08 Vote or Contest Rejection.LinkCopy Citation
A.
Person No Longer a Candidate. If an absentee ballot is voted for an individual who has ceased to be a candidate, the vote for that individual may not be counted but does not invalidate the rest of the ballot.
B.
Damaged or Marked Ballot. If an absentee ballot is damaged or otherwise marked so that the local board cannot determine the voter's intent in a specific contest, the local board shall reject that contest on the ballot.
C.
Erasures or Alterations. If an absentee ballot has erasures or has been altered or repaired:
(1)
For all contests where the voter's intent is clear, the local board shall process the ballot or, if necessary, have it duplicated and processed; and
(2)
For any contest where the local board cannot determine the voter's intent, the local board shall reject that contest on the ballot.
Chapter annotations
Authority: Election Law Article, §§2-102(b)(4), 2-202(b), 9-303, 11-301, 11-302, and 11-303.2, Annotated Code of Maryland
History: Effective date:
History: Regulations .01—.07 adopted as an emergency provision effective February 1, 2000 (27:6 Md. R. 637); adopted permanently effective April 17, 2000 (27:7 Md. R. 709)
History: Regulation .01 amended effective November 24, 2003 (30:23 Md. R. 1655)
History: Regulation .01 amended as an emergency provision effective June 2, 2006 (33:13 Md. R. 1062); amended permanently effective August 14, 2006 (33:16 Md. R. 1366)
History: Regulation .03 amended effective November 24, 2003 (30:23 Md. R. 1655)
History: Regulation .04 amended as an emergency provision effective August 25, 2006 (33:19 Md. R. 1556); superseded effective September 13, 2006 (33:21 Md. R. 1672); emergency status expired January 31, 2007
History: Regulation .04A amended effective November 24, 2003 (30:23 Md. R. 1655)
History: Regulation .04B amended as an emergency provision effective July 3, 2002 (29:18 Md. R. 1440); amended permanently effective October 14, 2002 (29:20 Md. R. 1595)
History: Chapter revised effective May 31, 2010 (37:11 Md. R. 768)
History: Regulation .01 amended effective February 29, 2016 (43:4 Md. R. 335)
History: Regulation .03 amended effective February 29, 2016 (43:4 Md. R. 335)
History: Regulation .04 amended as an emergency provision effective October 13, 2020 (47:23 Md. R. 976); emergency provision expired December 31, 2020
History: Regulation .04 amended as an emergency provision effective July 18, 2022 (49:17 Md. R. 788); emergency provision expired December 1, 2022
History: Regulation .04 amended effective December 12, 2022 (49:25 Md. R. 1052); April 15, 2024 (51:7 Md. R. 335)
History: Regulation .07A amended effective December 13, 2021 (48:25 Md. R. 1081