A.
Any person qualified to vote in any election may use a vote-by-mail
ballot pursuant to the provisions of this article.
B.
Subject to the provisions set forth in § 8-15C, voters that have applied for and received a vote-by-mail ballot may only vote in that election by vote-by-mail ballot and are prohibited from voting in person at any polling place for that election.
C.
Voters may choose to vote-by-mail permanently by completing the required
form provided by the City Clerk's office. The form must be submitted
to the City Clerk no less than 10 days before any City election. The
City Clerk shall maintain a list of all permanent vote-by-mail voters.
Any permanent vote-by-mail voter may revoke their status as a permanent
vote-by-mail voter at any time. The City Clerk shall remove from the
list any permanent vote-by-mail voter who has not voted in two consecutive
election cycles.
D.
No vote-by-mail ballot, completed or otherwise, shall be handled
or delivered by a candidate or any individual volunteering or working
for a candidate, except for their own ballot or that of their immediate
family member or a member of their household.
E.
No person may cast a vote using a vote-by-mail ballot that was issued
by the City for another person.
F.
A qualified voter may obtain a replacement vote-by-mail ballot if
the original ballot was destroyed, spoiled, lost, or for any other
reason not received by the registered voter. A qualified voter who
obtains a ballot in accordance with this subsection will be required
to sign an affidavit, in a form approved by the Board, specifying
the reason for requesting the replacement ballot.
A.
Printed forms of applications for vote-by-mail ballots in accordance
with the requirements of this chapter shall be provided by the Board
and shall be available to any qualified voter.
B.
A qualified voter desiring to vote at any election with a vote-by-mail ballot shall make an application, in writing, to the Board prior to the deadline established in Subsection D of this section.
C.
Applications for vote-by-mail ballots shall include the following:
(1)
The applicant's name and residence address, including the street
and number;
(2)
A statement indicating that the applicant is a qualified voter at
the residence address given;
(3)
Whether the ballot should be held for pickup at the City Municipal
Building or mailed to the applicant and, if mailed, the address to
which the ballot is to be delivered if different from the applicant's
resident address;
(4)
An affidavit, executed under the penalties of perjury, stating that
all of the information included in the application is true to the
best of the applicant's knowledge; and
(5)
The applicant's signature.
D.
Application deadlines.
(1)
Applications that request a ballot be held for pickup at the City
Municipal Building shall be filed with the Board no later than 10:00
a.m. on the last day the City offices are open for regular business
before election day.
(2)
Applications that request delivery of a ballot by mail shall be filed
with the Board no later than the close of business 10 days prior to
election day.
A.
Review of applications.
B.
Rejection of applications.
(1)
The Board shall reject any application for a vote-by-mail ballot
if:
(2)
The Board may not reject the vote-by-mail application of any person
except by unanimous vote.
(3)
If a vote-by-mail application is rejected, the Board shall promptly
notify the applicant of the reason(s) therefor.
C.
Approval of applications; delivery of vote-by-mail ballots.
(1)
If an application is not rejected under Subsection B of this section, the Board shall, as soon as reasonably practicable, mail the applicant's ballot or make the ballot available for pickup at the office of the Board if the applicant so indicated on their application.
(2)
The Board shall mail all ballots that approved applicants have requested
to be delivered by mail no later than seven days prior to election
day.
(3)
If the applicant is entitled to free postage privileges under any
federal law, rule, or regulation, the Board shall take full advantage
of these privileges.
(4)
Not more than one vote-by-mail ballot may be mailed or provided to
any applicant unless the Board has reasonable grounds to believe that
the vote-by-mail ballot previously mailed has been lost, destroyed,
or spoiled.
(5)
Upon the mailing or delivery of a vote-by-mail ballot, the Board
shall:
(a)
Remove the approved applicant's voter record card from the precinct
binder and place it in a separate binder marked "Registered Vote-by-Mail
Voters," which shall be retained in the office of the City Clerk;
and
(b)
Place a marker in the regular precinct binder that indicates
the voter's name, that a vote-by-mail ballot has been mailed or delivered,
and the date on which the ballot was sent or delivered.
A.
Vote-by-mail ballots for the election must be mailed or distributed
no more than 45 days and no less than 30 days prior to the election
to which they apply. Postage for transmitting the ballot material
to the voter and postage for the return of ballots shall be paid by
the Board.
B.
The Board will mail one notice to all households in the City and
at least three notices and reminders to all qualified voters in the
City informing them of the vote-by-mail ballot voting deadlines and
the date, time, and location of the in-person voting on election day.
The first notice will be mailed or distributed no later than 90 days
prior to the election. The notices will be in addition to the mailing
of the ballot itself. The Board will also provide at least one other
form of mass communication informing the public of the City election,
which must include all of the information required on the notices.
A.
The Board shall prescribe the size, form, arrangement, and printed
contents of vote-by-mail ballots, except that all such ballots shall:
(1)
Be in paper form;
(2)
Display the heading "Vote-by-Mail Ballot" printed in large letters
in a clear space at the top of each paper ballot;
(3)
Display the following instructions printed in large letters in a
clear space below the ballot heading: "Mark ballot by placing X in
proper blank after each candidate or question. Do not erase or make
identifying marks.";
(4)
Clearly display the applicable election ward;
(5)
List candidates by office and then alphabetically by last name within
each office; and
(6)
List referendum questions following the listing of candidates for
all offices.
B.
The Board shall prescribe the size, form, arrangement, and printed
contents of the following materials, which shall be included with
every vote-by-mail ballot:
A.
Any qualified voter who is unable to mark their own ballot due to
a physical disability may receive assistance in marking a vote-by-mail
ballot.
B.
Any person assisting another voter in the marking of a vote-by-mail
ballot shall complete the required certification of assistance included
with the ballot, which shall be executed under the penalties of perjury
and returned with the completed ballot.
Completed vote-by-mail ballots may be delivered:
A.
By mail to the address designated by the Board; or
A.
Time for opening or unfolding ballots. The Board shall not open or
unfold any vote-by-mail ballot at any time before the closing of the
polls and the beginning of the canvass of the ballots.
B.
Procedure generally.
(1)
Immediately following the canvass of the votes cast at the regular
voting places in the City on election day, the Board shall meet at
the City Municipal Building and shall proceed to count, certify, and
canvass the vote-by-mail ballots contained in the ballot envelopes
received before the closing of the polls on election day.
(2)
This canvass shall be conducted by ward in accordance with the applicable provisions of § C4-11 of the City Charter.
(3)
All vote-by-mail voters' applications, certifications, ballot envelopes,
and ballots shall be kept separate and apart from other ballot types
and election materials.
(4)
Before opening any ballot, the Board shall inspect the ballot and
determine the following:
(5)
If the Board is satisfied that a ballot meets all of the criteria set forth in Subsection B(4) of this section, the Board shall open the ballot envelope, remove the ballot therefrom, place the ballot in a vote-by-mail ballot box, and enter in the appropriate register the fact that the voter whose name appears thereon has voted, using the initials "VBM" to indicate the vote has been by a vote-by-mail ballot.
C.
Rejection of vote-by-mail ballots.
(1)
The Board may reject a vote-by-mail ballot only by unanimous vote
of the entire Board.
(2)
Vote-by-mail ballots may be marked by any kind of ink so long as
it permits the Board to ascertain the voter's unambiguous choices.
(3)
Vote-by-mail ballots shall be rejected and not counted if:
(a)
The ballot was received by the Board after the closing of the
polls on election day;
(b)
The voter's oath is not sufficiently executed;
(c)
There is more than one ballot in the ballot envelope, in which
case all shall be rejected;
(d)
The ballot was cast by a person not eligible to vote;
(e)
The voter has already voted in person;
(f)
The voter has marked more choices than is permissible for a
specific contest or the ballot is marked in a manner that makes the
voter's choice(s) ambiguous, in which case the Board shall invalidate
only the vote(s) for the specific contest(s) that are improperly or
ambiguously marked and shall not invalidate the remainder of the ballot,
which shall be counted, certified, and canvassed unless rejected for
another reason;
(g)
The Board receives from the same person before the closing of
the polls on election day more than one vote-by-mail ballot, in which
case the Board shall count, certify, and canvass only the vote-by-mail
ballot with the earliest date and the other shall be rejected, or,
if both are undated or dated the same, both ballots shall be rejected;
(h)
The ballot contains a vote for a person who has ceased to be
a candidate, in which case the Board shall invalidate only that vote
for that specific contest and shall not invalidate the remainder of
the ballot, which shall be counted, certified, and canvassed unless
rejected for another reason; and/or
D.
Death of a voter.
(1)
Whenever the Board determines from proof of investigation that any person who has cast a vote-by-mail ballot has died before election day, the Board shall not count the ballot of the deceased voter, but it shall be preserved with the rest of the canvassed ballots pursuant to § 8-21 of this article.
(2)
Notwithstanding Subsection D(1) of this section, if, at or before the time of counting and canvassing, the Board has not determined that a person who cast a vote-by-mail ballot had died before election day, that voter's ballot shall be counted, and the fact that the voter may later be shown to have been actually dead on election day shall not invalidate the ballot or the election.
A.
The Board shall keep, pursuant to the City's Record Retention Policy,
a record of vote-by-mail applications and shall retain vote-by-mail
ballots, ballot envelopes, certifications and applications received.
B.
The records retained pursuant to this section shall be made available
for examination by any registered voter or as the Maryland Public
Information Act[1] or other state or federal law may require or prohibit
such disclosure.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Maryland Annotated Code, General Provisions
Article, § 4-101 et seq.
