Board sets canvassing schedule, replacement-ballot controls and procedures

Elections staff told the Frostburg City Board of Elections on May 13 that staff will open outer mail envelopes at 8 a.m. the morning after the election so ballots can be prepped, and that official canvassing will begin at 10 a.m.

Staff explained the practical steps they will take during canvassing: envelopes will be alphabetized or arranged by a voter-ID number, cities will verify each voter is still registered against the precinct registry book before any ballot is opened, and staff will mark the registry so the county can track who has returned a ballot. The staff said the registry includes a separate section for inactive voters (those who have not recently voted or responded to mailings) and that being listed as inactive does not by itself make someone ineligible.

Staff also described controls for replacement ballots: replacement-ballot envelopes were numbered in the 5,000s so staff can more easily distinguish them from the initial run (which used numbers in the 4,000s). The printing vendor provided extra envelopes; staff said the numbering will aid tracking and reduce errors.

The board discussed logistics for canvassing: if the ballot box fills before the official canvassing start, staff will call at least two people to open it, count and secure contents, and then retape it; otherwise staff will move sealed envelopes to locked storage until canvassing begins. Staff said they will keep an internal Excel tally (batch totals for groups such as 50 accepted ballots) and that those running totals are not public; the board discussed whether to publish tentative numbers and agreed to hold partial-batch totals until a batch is completed to avoid releasing partial tallies.

Staff reported some incoming batches lacked postmarks; staff will write the receipt date on such envelopes to document when they were received and will work with the local post office to ensure ballots are postmarked when appropriate. Ballots received after the statutory/posted cutoff without an acceptable postmark will not be accepted, staff said.

The board set a canvassing window (10 a.m. start, continuing daily as necessary) and penciled in follow-up canvassing on Friday, June 12 (noting the transcript reference to a scheduled day to finish residuals). Staff said they will provide an Excel sheet visible to the board to track progress during canvassing.

The board closed the meeting at about 5:05 p.m.