Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) -The Montgomery County Board of Elections likely won’t have the final numbers for last Tuesday’s primary election until July 16 according to the BOE. Thursday the BOE started the the tedious process of reviewing provisional ballots and preparing the verified ones to be counted, which is known as canvassing.
“That process, as you can imagine, takes a bit of time,” said BOE spokesperson Marjorie Roher.
After provisional ballots are cast, Roher said BOE staff compares the information to the voter registration database and makes a recommendation to the board whether the ballot should be accepted or rejected.
More provisional ballots were cast Tuesday than usual after a computer error meant address and party affiliate changes made by tens of thousands of Marylanders at self-service kiosks at the Motor Vehicle Administration or online never made it to the board.
Once the canvassing process is done, Roher said there are multiple audit steps that need to be completed before they can certify the election.
Usually, Roher said people don’t pay much attention to the provisional ballot counting process because the tabulations don’t change the results of the election.
“But in this particular case, with such a close race, everybody is anxious to find out who the winner is, and so that’s bringing more attention to the process,” said Roher.
The results are being closely watched because Council Member Marc Elrich only leads Potomac businessman David Blair for county executive by about 150 votes.
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