Bowie Board of Elections recommends return to paper ballots, fewer polling places for 2027 election

The City of Bowie Board of Elections on July 14 recommended that the city return to paper ballots for all voters in the 2027 election, consolidate polling places, and keep in-person polling rather than adopt a full mail-in model.

The board's chair, Yolanda Jones, told the council the panel's package of recommendations includes preprinted paper ballots scanned into tabulation machines, use of ADA-compliant ballot-marking devices that print a voter's ballot for scanning, continued use of electronic poll books, and a reassessment of current polling locations. "The board recommends a return to paper ballots for all voters, not just absentee voters," Jones said, describing the ballot-marking and scanning workflow the board prefers.

Jones said the board is recommending reducing polling places from eight to four 'provisionally one per council district'pending final site and accessibility assessments. The board also recommended that the candidate filing period open May 1, 2027, and close 60 days before election day; that absentee ballot requests be handled no later than one week before the election; and that campaign finance reports and absentee applications be accepted electronically while candidate filing remain in-person.

Why it matters: Council members said paper ballots would create a clearer paper trail and speed lines at polling sites, and asked staff to tighten code language to avoid ambiguity around filing and reporting deadlines. Councilwoman Donna Rogers said she welcomed the paper-ballot recommendation because it would create an accountability trail for post-election review: "I'm glad to see the support for the paper ballots. I have been concerned over the many, many years ' depending, many elections ' I've had some concerns with accountability and in the long term, if there are challenges that we didn't have a good, paper trail, if you will."

Questions from council and staff exchanges focused on several operational points: Jones confirmed the board recommends that absentee ballots be dropped off in person at City Hall (they can be dropped off through polls-closing time) rather than relying on a postmark rule; she and the clerk said there is currently no local rule accepting ballots postmarked by election day but received later. Jones also said the board unanimously opposes converting Bowie's election to a full mail-in model.

Council members pressed on voter access options tied to consolidation. The board flagged site availability problems at Cornerstone Church and parking and crowding concerns at Huntington Community Center and South Bowie Pool House. Jones said the board had talked with vendors and municipalities such as College Park, Laurel and Greenbelt to review options and vendor offerings and that vendors commonly offer leased equipment (rather than one-time purchase) and vendor training that can be completed quickly onsite.

Staff follow-up and next steps: City Clerk Walter Hernandez and board members said the board will work with staff to draft code amendments to City Code, Chapter 6, to reflect the changes and present them to council with public hearings. Jones said leasing tabulation equipment and ADA machines is an anticipated procurement path and that the board will pursue site assessments. The city manager and economic development staff also offered to compile a timetable for implementation; staff said they could return with a more detailed plan for council review in coming weeks.

What was not decided: The council did not adopt ordinance language tonight. Several operational questions were left for staff, including final polling site selections, precise absentee-ballot handling language for the code, and a final budget estimate for leasing tabulation hardware.

Ending: The board's recommendations will be converted into proposed code language and implementation steps for council review; staff will provide a schedule so the council can consider code changes well in advance of the 2027 filing period.