Update Sept. 28, 1:28 p.m.: The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has granted a Motion to Shorten Time filed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox, and will accelerate their review of the candidate’s appeal filed Tuesday. 

According to the order released by Judge Douglas R.M. Nazarin, the Cox campaign now has until 3 p.m. Wednesday to file a “supplemental memorandum” offering an argument against the Montgomery County Circuit Court’s decision to allow mail-in ballots to be counted before Election Day.

The State Board of Elections will then have 24 hours to file a response.

Update Sept. 27,  12:15 p.m.: Dan Cox is not giving up his fight to stop the early counting of mail-in ballots, but he is running out of time. Ed Hartman, an attorney for the the Maryland GOP gubernatorial nominee, filed an appeal Tuesday morning seeking an emergency order to block last week’s ruling on the matter in the Montgomery County Circuit Court.

On Friday, Judge James A. Bonifant granted the State Board of Elections’ emergency petition to count mail-in ballots early in light of a massive increase ballots this election cycle. Further, canvassers may “meet and open envelopes, canvass, and tabulate mail-in ballots no earlier than 8:00 a.m. on October 1, 2022.” The results will be kept confidential until Election Day.

“The court is satisfied the undisputed facts of this case amount to emergency circumstances envisioned by the law,” Bonifant said in his ruling.

Original: A judge with the Montgomery County Circuit Court sided with the State Board of Elections over Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox in the request to begin counting mail-in ballots before Election Day. 

Judge James A. Bonifant issued his ruling today that read, in part, “there is no doubt that the increased number of mail-in ballots will have an enormous effect on this election. Mandatory deadlines will be missed if the Court takes no action.”

The Board unanimously filed an emergency petition last month to challenge an existing measure that prevents mail-in ballots from being processed until two days after Election Day. 

Cox challenged the effort last week, arguing that the board was unable to present an “actual emergency” in their emergency petition, and that changing the practice would hurt his chances in the election. In a statement, his campaign called the proposal “unconstitutional.”

The memorandum filed through Cox’s attorney states the effort of the Board of Elections does not comply with the standard for all emergency requests in the state. Instead it calls the effort a “naked attempt to assert control over the legislative process.”

In the time since Cox filed the challenge, an independent poll released by The Baltimore Banner, Goucher College, and WYPR 88.1 found he is lagging 22 points behind Democratic challenger Wes Moore.

The state BOE decided to take legal action to address mail-in ballot-counting in August, after it took more than a month to certify a winner of the Montgomery County Executive Democratic primary. That race ultimately required a manual ballot recount and was decided by a 35-vote margin.

The General Assembly had already attempted to alter this policy back in the spring. Before the primary election took place they passed an emergency bill that would have allowed employees of local election boards to count and process — but not release — mail-in ballot vote totals eight days before polls closed on Primary Election Day. 

The bill passed through both chambers of the General Assembly but was vetoed by Gov. Larry Hogan, who cited election integrity as the primary reason for his decision.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Maryland “does not permit the processing of absentee/mail ballots until 10 a.m. on Thursday after an election, based on state regulation.” It is the only state in the country to employ this specification.

In 2022, voters statewide requested nearly 12 times more mail-in ballots for the Primary elections than they did in 2018, a trend which already appears to be holding steady ahead of the General Election.

As of Sept. 19, more than 524,000 mail-in ballots have been requested, that’s already more than the total requested before the primaries.

Previously:

Republican Gov. Candidate Dan Cox Challenges Early Tabulation Of Mail-In Ballots In Maryland

Maryland Elections Board Takes Emergency Legal Action Seeking To Prevent Delays In Voting Results

Elrich Certified As Montgomery County Executive Primary Winner After Recount