Maryland‘s Experience with the MOVE Act

Linda H. Lamone State AdministratorMaryland State Board of Elections

Maryland Before the MOVE Act

• Accepted Federal Write-in Absentee Ballots for all elections• Provided absentee information via voter look-up

website• No notary or paper or envelope requirements• Transmitted blank ballots electronically

Implementing MOVE in Maryland

• State was in good shape to implement MOVE• Adopted regulations to address majority of

technical election administration issues• Opted to use website to deliver absentee

ballots electronically

Electronic Delivery of Absentee Ballots

• Once ballots are available, send email to each voter that his/her ballot was ready

• Use unique ballot tracking number to access ballot, instructions, etc.

• Voter prints ballot, instructions, oath, and envelope• Voter must mail voted ballot and oath

2010 General Election – Statistics

• 37% of UOCAVA voters received ballot electronically

• Twice as many domestic, civilian voters received ballots electronically than UOCAVA voters

2010 General Election – Statistics

• Return rate for UOCAVA (25.4%) significantly lower than the rate for domestic, civilian voters (79.6%) but . . .

• Return rate higher for UOCAVA voters who received ballot electronically (28.6%) than those who received by mail (23.5%)

Challenges with the MOVE Act

• 45 day deadline for transmitting ballots to UOCAVA voters

• Duplicating electronically issued ballots• State policymakers – not election officials –

control election calendar

Meeting the 45-day Requirement

• 2010 General Election Calendar–Primary Election September 14th

–45th day September 18th – Final canvass September 22nd

Meeting the 45-day Requirement

• Submitted request for waiver but continued to identify compliant solutions

• Withdrew request with DOJ and FVAP-approved solution – send federal only ballots by 45th day before election

• Sent federal only ballots by 45th day and sent full State ballot when completed

Meeting the 45-day Requirement – in the Future

• Change Maryland’s election calendar–Move presidential primary election–Move gubernatorial primary election

• Encourage national parties to nominate presidential candidates earlier–Impacts ability of all states to meet requirement

Duplicating Electronically Issued Ballots

• Ballots printed on off-the shelf printers cannot be read by current optical scanners

• During canvass, all of these ballots must be duplicated onto readable ballots

Recommendations for Improvements

• Electronic delivery– Encourage voting system vendors to develop

optical scanners that can read ballots printed by off-the-shelf printers – without a corresponding trade-off of accuracy

• 45-day mailing requirement– Encourage national parties to nominate

presidential candidates earlier– Encourage UOCAVA voters to support state

efforts to adjust election calendar

Recommendations for Improvements