GOP nominee for Maryland Governor Dan Cox has filed a motion in the Montgomery County Circuit Court opposing the state Board of Elections’ request that they be permitted to count mail-in ballots prior to Election Day. He argues the board has not been able to present an “actual emergency” in their petition, and that amending the practice would hurt his chances in the election.

In a statement released by the Cox campaign Sept. 13, he argues “Counting mail-in ballots as they are cast, while not counting in-person voting until the polls close, creates a disparate and unconstitutional methodology for counting ballots.”

The memorandum filed through Cox’s attorney provided to WAMU/DCist by his campaign states the Board of Elections’ effort does not adhere to the standard for all emergency requests: Immediate and irreparable injury; A strong likelihood of success on the merits; balancing of inconvenience between the parties; public policy. Instead it calls the effort a “naked attempt to assert control over the legislative process.”

In August, the state Board of Elections voted unanimously to take action to prevent possible future delays in certifying election results. The move came days after the board certified the winner of the Montgomery County Executive race, which took more than a month and involved a manual ballot recount because the race was so close.

Following a 4-0 vote, the Board had filed an emergency petition in the Montgomery County Circuit Court to challenge the existing measure that prevents mail-in ballots from being processed until two days after Election Day. 

In Maryland, there is a provision prohibiting counting mail-in ballots before election day; they are allowed to be opened two days after Election Day.

In the spring, the General Assembly passed an emergency bill to address that delay, partly in response to the dramatic increase in mail-in ballots during COVID. The bill allowed local election boards and their employees to tabulate – but not release – mail-in ballot vote totals before polls closed on the Primary Election Day. 

Citing concerns about election integrity, Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed the bill.

In the same statement released by the Cox campaign, he claims, “In 2020, courts and executives throughout the nation overrode election law in response to the COVID-19 executive orders, changing the rules in the middle of the game—without the democratically-elected legislatures having a say at all.”

Cox has repeatedly supported myths of election fraud surrounding former President Donald Trump and the 2020 election. At a fundraiser in Queen Anne’s County earlier this year, Cox referenced being in contact with Trump, and referred to him as “our wonderful president, the only president that I recognize right now.” On Jan. 6, 2021 he rented three buses to take people from Frederick County to D.C., the day rioters breached the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the election results.

A hearing on Cox’s legal filing is scheduled at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Rockville for next Friday at 3 p.m.

Reached for comment, a representative for the Wes Moore for Governor campaign wrote “At some point, we have to be honest about the fact that Dan Cox just isn’t all that into the foundation of American democracy – fair and free elections. He started with denying the 2020 election, then escalated to busing folks to the Capitol on January 6th, and now he’s attempting to directly affect Maryland’s elections by slowing down our electoral process. These attacks are not only dangerous to Maryland but to our democracy as a whole.”

Ernest Bailey, a spokesperson for the Maryland Democratic Party, called the move “conspiratorial nonsense.” 

“His obstruction of this common-sense measure with bipartisan support is further evidence of his lack of fitness to lead this state,” Bailey wrote.

When reached by WAMU/DCist, the Office Maryland Office of the Attorney General declined to comment, as their standard policy is to not comment on active litigation.

According to the state Board of Elections, as of Sept.13 more than 517,000 mail-in ballots had been requested statewide ahead of the general election.

This story has been updated with language from the memorandum filed by Dan Cox and a statement from the Wes Moore for Governor Campaign.