Caroline County elections director outlines RLA steps, new vendor demos and candidate filings

The countys election director told the Caroline County Board of Elections on March 13 that the office is preparing for a newly required risk-limiting audit (RLA) and coordinating public demonstrations of the statewide vendor selected for the next voting system.

"Risk limiting audit ... has to be done prior to our state certification of the election results," the Election Director said, describing the RLA as distinct from the former 180-day post-election audit window and explaining that the state will select the contest to audit and randomly select memory sticks (batches) using a seed in Arlo software.

The director described operational steps for the RLA: staff will batch selected ballots into manageable stacks (for example, stacks of 25), use nonpartisan teams to call and tally contests, and make the process available for public observation. She said recent test runs were "pretty seamless," but that batching will be the most time-consuming part.

On equipment, the director announced the States procurement selected ES&S (the countys current vendor) and that the new machines use faster scanning units and ballot-marking devices that can display multiple columns of candidates, reducing the number of screens voters must page through. She said public demonstrations are scheduled March 232d25, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at three locations including Baltimore Inner Harbor and a site on the Eastern Shore; the county will not deploy the new equipment until 2028.

The director also reviewed election administration items: she presented the FY27 budget to the county commissioners on March 3; voter registration totals for February and March were attached to the board packet; and the election judge assignment report as of March 4, 2026, was provided to members. She said specimen ballots and the election judge manual have been submitted to the State Board of Elections (SBE) for state review and printing.

As of the Feb. 24 candidate filing deadline, the director said 29 candidates had filed for local contests in Caroline County. She noted the Board of Education District 3 contest will skip the primary nonpartisan ballot and go directly to the general election because fewer than three candidates filed.

The board discussed contingency planning if a pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling limits counting of ballots received after Election Day. The director said state lawmakers have introduced "trigger" legislation to bifurcate canvassing procedures between federal and state/local contests should that ruling require it, and the state administrator is consulting with the vendor on whether machines could be programmed to count only state and local contests if necessary.

The director closed by noting the office submitted a 2026 disaster recovery plan and that staff will continue outreach and training in the run-up to the primary.