2024 MARYLAND VOTER GUIDE
1.Voter Registration
Deadline to Register/Update: October 15, 2024
In-person registration available on Election Day
2. Check Your Registration
Why check your registration? Your address is where election officials send notices, application forms to receive your ballot in the mail, and more. Additionally, poll workers will check if the address on your voter registration matches the address on your ID at the polls.
Check Your Registration Online
Update Your Registration Online
Checklist:
- Is your name spelled correctly? (Correct hyphenations, middle initials, etc)
- Correct Address
- Active Voter Status (if not update by sending in another online/mail voter application)
- Correct Date of Birth
- Correct Political Party Preference
- Take a time-stamped photograph or screenshot of your registration, and take it with you to the polls as proof of your registration.
3. Voter ID Law
Source: Ballotpedia
Maryland does not require voters to present identification (ID) while voting in most cases.[1] However, voters will be asked to show ID if they registered to vote by mail without meeting the identification requirements, if someone challenges their identity, or if they are registering to vote or changing their address during early voting.
Forms of ID Accepted
A voter will be asked to show ID in the following circumstances:
- The voter registered by mail and did not provide proper identification;
- The voter’s identity is challenged; or
- The voter registers to vote during early voting or changes his or her address during early voting.
The following list of accepted ID was current as of April 2023. Click here for the Maryland Attorney General’s voting information page to ensure you have the most current information.
- A Maryland Driver’s License or other Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) issued identification
- A student ID card that contains a photo
- An employee ID card that contains a photo
- A passport or other government issued ID,
OR, if you do not have those forms of ID:
a utility bill, bank statement, government check or paycheck that shows your name and address and is less than 3 months old. If you are showing ID because you are voting for the first time, your name and address on the document must match the information on the voter registration roll.[3]
Provisional ballot rules
Voters in Maryland are given provisional ballots, or ballots requiring additional steps or information before they can be counted, under the following circumstances.
(1) If the voter is not listed as registered to vote, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(2) If the voter has moved but did not update his or her address for voting, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(3) If the voter states that he or she has not yet voted in the election, but the state voter database shows that the voter received an absentee/mail-in ballot for the election or already voted in the election, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(4) If, during early voting, the voter tried to register to vote or change his or her address, but the voter’s eligibility was not determined at that time, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(5) If the voter does not show proper identification, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(6) If the voter did not provide his or her driver’s license number or the last four digits of his or her social security number on the voter registration form or election officials are unable to verify the number provided, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(7) If a voter’s right to vote is challenged, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(8) If a court orders a polling place to stay open late, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
Was your provisional ballot counted?
“A provisional ballot will be counted if the local board of elections is able to verify that the provisional voter is registered and eligible to vote in Maryland. Provisional ballots are counted even if they will not change the outcome of an election. Therefore, if a person is eligible to vote, it makes no difference if the voter has voted a regular ballot or a provisional ballot,” according to the attorney general’s website.
A provisional ballot is rejected in the following circumstances:
- If the voter is not qualified to vote;
- If the voter failed to sign the oath on the provisional ballot application;
- If the voter cast more than one ballot for the same election;
- If “[t]he local board determines that a provisional ballot is intentionally marked with an identifying mark that is clearly evident and placed on the ballot for the purpose of identifying the ballot”; or
- If “the intent of the voter with respect to a particular contest is not clearly demonstrated, the local board shall reject only the vote for that contest.”
Visit the office of the Maryland State Board of Elections’ provisional ballot search tool to check the status of your provisional ballot. The information is usually available 10 days after the election.
4. Order Your Absentee Mail Ballot
Deadline for Absentee Mail Ballot application: Must be received by 8:00 pm on October 29, 2024
We recommend requesting your absentee mail ballot as soon as possible and well in advance of this deadline in order to ensure that you receive your ballot in time.
Deadline to return absentee mail Ballot:
Mailed: Postmarked on or before November 5
Hand-delivered: no later than 8:00 pm on November 3, 2024
Surrendering Your Absentee Ballot: Maryland has a Surrender Rule. Voters have the option of dropping vote-by-mail ballots at any polling place at a receptacle provided. Vote-by-mail voters who received their ballots but had not returned it can exchange it for a regular ballot. Only voters who poll workers find have already cast the mail-in ballot (by checking their records) will be issued a provisional ballot.
Source: https://elections.maryland.gov/pdf/minutes/2015_05.pdf
If a local board has received a voted vote-by-mail ballot from a voter and the voter appears tovote at a voting center, the voter will receive a provisional ballot. A local board shall provide a receptacle to accept voted vote-by-mail ballots from voters. Most other voters will receive a regular ballot and use the voting equipment. This includes voters who have received but have not returned their vote-by-mail ballots and voters who surrender their vote-by-mail ballots at the voting center.
5. Early Voting Information
- Early voting is available from October 24 – October 31, 2024. Early voting centers will be open from 7am to 8pm.
- A full list of early voting centers is available here: https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2024/2024%20Early%20Voting%20Centers%20v1.pdf
6. Become a Poll Worker!
- Become a poll worker! In Maryland these are called election judges or pages.
- Poll workers must be at least 14 years old or over, and a registered voter (if over 18) in their county
- Sign up here: Become an Election Judge (maryland.gov)