Lessons Learned From 2012 Election

Recently, the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee, chaired by Council President Nancy Navarro along with committee members, Valerie Ervin and Hans Riemer, heard testimony from Montgomery County Board of Elections President Mary Ann Keefe, Margaret Jurgenson, Election Director, Montgomery County Board of Elections, and Linda Lamone, State Administrator of Elections.

Council President and Committee Chair, Nancy Navarro began the meeting by stating three problems with the November 2012 election.

1. Long lines at early voting stations.
2. The confusion caused by mistakes in the Spanish language translation resulting in a misrepresentation of one ballot question in the sample ballot mailed to Montgomery County voters vs. the one available at polling stations and in other parts of the state.
3. Absentee ballots mailed out missing the second page which necessitated the ballots be reissued, resulting in some residents receiving two absentee ballots.

Mary Ann Keefe, President of the Board of Elections, began her testimony saying over 460,000 people voted in Montgomery County and early voting was “a great hit” with 17% of Montgomery County voters taking advantage of early voting. While there were some long wait times, especially during Early Voting, more than half the votes were cast before noon on Election Day and only 4% of votes were cast in the last hour the polls were open. There were very few polling stations statewide with a line at the end of the day. Ms. Keefe went on to testify, along with Linda Lamone, State Administrator of Elections on the various concerns and problems that occurred on the lead up to Election Day 2012.

Long lines at early voting stations:
Mary Ann Keefe, President of the Board of Elections, began by saying this was the first time early voting was allowed and Board of Election officials were pleased that their awareness campaign worked so well with 17% of voters taking advantage of the early voting option. Ms. Keefe explained the long lines at early voting stations, sometimes requiring a two hour wait, particularly over the first two days of Early Voting, occurred because people were concerned about the impact of Hurricane Sandy and possible problems even getting to a polling station after the storm. She commented on how well early voters handled the long wait. Board of Elections staff made sure handicapped voters were accommodated and lines were moved inside whenever possible. Montgomery County Board of Elections officials support Governor O’Malley proposed legislation that will expand the number of early voting days and well as increase the number of early voting sites.

Linda Lamone, State Administrator of Elections testified a record 2.7 million people voted in Maryland, a state that has historically had long lines at polls. She too attributed the long wait on early voting days to Hurricane Sandy coupled with the very long ballot.

Spanish Language Translation Confusion:
During her testimony, Mary Ann Keefe, President of the Board of Elections explained the Spanish translation included in the Sample Ballot mailed to Montgomery County voters was different from the rest of the State of Maryland, and was not correct. This resulted from several drafts of the translation being passed around. The Montgomery County Board of Elections sent the incorrect version to the printer. When the error was discovered it was too late to change the print version mailed to county residents so the Board of Elections placed a corrected translation in the Sample Ballots available at polling stations. Thus, the confusion as to which translation was correct and why there were two versions available. Ms. Keefe testified the error was caused by a lack of consistent procedures; therefore in the future, the Montgomery County Board of Elections will use the State translation. Linda Lamone, State Administrator of Elections, also testified on this issue and said there were “too many fingers in the pie” and in the future the Maryland State translation will be the final version.

Absentee Ballots Missing a Page:
Approximately 4000 absentee ballots mailed prior to the election were missing the second page due to an error at the vendor contracted with by the State Board of Elections to print and mail the ballots. When the mistake was discovered the absentee ballots were reissued. Because the absentee ballots had to be reissued, some voters received more than one absentee ballot. Linda Lamone, State Administrator of Elections testified the vendor, Runbeck Election Services, has a comprehensive quality improvement plan based on lessons learned in the 2012 election to make sure this error does not happen again.

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