Here's What 'Ballot Received' Means For Maryland Voters Checking The Status On Mail-In Ballots
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- More than 1.6 million Marylanders have turned to mail-in voting for the 2020 general election as the coronavirus pandemic continues, but that high volume means some voters are seeing delays when checking the status of their ballots.
A number of voters have reported returning their ballots weeks ago, but when checking their status online the ballots show up as "received" rather than "accepted."
If it's been two weeks and our mail-in ballot is still in 'received' status should we be coming and filling out a provisional? I assume if a ballot is rejected it will just be too late for anyone to fix theirs now? ???? @md_sbe
— Scott ???? (@SC0TTYDUSNTKN0W) October 27, 2020
The Maryland Board of Elections offered an explanation Thursday, saying that "ballot received" means local election officials have a person's ballot and are working to process it:
"The tracker will be updated as soon as possible to show whether the ballot has been accepted. Because the deadline to submit a ballot is still days away, unless the voter failed to sign the oath on the return envelope, the ballot is likely to be accepted. Due to the high volume of ballots that have been sent to voters and continue to be received at the local election offices, it may take some time for the status of a voter's ballot to update in the online tracker."
"Processing time depends on canvass schedules & volume of ballots received," the board tweeted in response to one voter's question.
If your ballot status shows that your ballot has been received, then your local board of elections is processing it. Processing time depends on canvass schedules & volume of ballots received. Here's what happens to your ballot after you return it: https://t.co/ijywx8m7dT #MDvotes https://t.co/lO4ENdbKou
— Maryland Elections (@md_sbe) October 29, 2020
VOTING RESOURCES:
- Maryland 2020 Election Guide: Where And When To Vote, List Of Important Races
- Maryland Voting Guide: How To Cast Your Ballot For The 2020 General Election
- Ballot Boxes Secured To Prevent Tampering, But Maryland Voters Can Still Drop Off Ballots 24/7
- Check if you're registered to vote
- Track your ballot
- Where to cast your ballot
As of Thursday, the state had sent out 1,680,424 mail-in ballots, of which 1,129,154 have been received. Mail-in ballots can be returned at hundreds of drop boxes around the state.