Ballot canvassing is underway in Maryland. Here's how it works.
BALTIMORE -- Maryland election officials can start the process of opening, reviewing and opening mail-in ballots that have been received, in a process called "ballot canvassing."
Ballot canvassing, which started on Tuesday in Maryland, gives election officials a jumpstart ahead of election day.
Nearly 700,000 Marylanders have already requested mail-in ballots for the upcoming general election, according to the Maryland Association of Counties.
The members of the local boards of elections meet as the "local board of canvassers" to review and count mail-in ballots and provisional ballots," according to Maryland's State Board of Elections.
Members of both political parties must attend the canvasses and board counsel must be present when the board is deciding whether to accept or reject a vote, ballot, or application, the state board of elections says.
The deadline to request a ballot by mail or fax is October 29. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot online is November 1, and the final day to cast your vote is November 5.
Behind-the-scenes in Anne Arundel County
In Anne Arundel County, ballot canvassing started in Glen Burnie, where 35 to 50 teams of two, with one Democrat and one Republican, are meticulously reviewing batches of 50 mail-in ballots at a time.
"Everybody is sort of pulling together and pitching in to get this all done in time," said Anne Arundel County Board of Elections Director David Garreis.
Tuesday was the first of 15 days of ballot canvassing across Maryland.
"It lets us get a jump on opening our mail-in ballots," Garreis said.
Garreis says the Anne Arundel County expects around 100,000 mail-in ballots for the general election. He said the county has sent out about 81,552 and received 32,405 back from voters.
"Once they're reviewed, the questionable ballots are sent to the board and the ballots that can be run through the machine then go through these machines," said Ed Evans, President of Canvassing Operations at the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections.
Bi-partisan teams operate the counting machines and questionable ballots go to a board for further review and then a vote.
"Make sure there's not any rips, tears, smudges, over-votes or anything like that," Evans said.
Elections officials in Anne Arundel County got through about 5,000 ballots by the end of the Tuesday, and will ramp up to 10,000 a day from now on.
"People can cast their ballot and know that their ballot was counted accurately and fairly and quickly," Garreis said.