Politics & Government

Voter Registration Deadline Approaching For Anne Arundel County Election

The voter registration deadline is almost here. Here's how Anne Arundel County residents can secure their ballots and see who's running.

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Anne Arundel County residents must register to vote by Oct. 18 if they want to participate in the Maryland general election. An early voting center is pictured above in July at Arundel Middle School in Odenton.
Anne Arundel County residents must register to vote by Oct. 18 if they want to participate in the Maryland general election. An early voting center is pictured above in July at Arundel Middle School in Odenton. (Jacob Baumgart/Patch)

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — There are only a few days left to register to vote in the 2022 Maryland general election. Residents must be registered by Tuesday to vote on the dozens of positions and referendums on the ballot in Anne Arundel County.

Voters will decide their next county executive and county council members. Several local offices in the Maryland General Assembly are also up for grabs.

Statewide races include those for governor, comptroller and attorney general. Congressional contests feature battles for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

Find out what's happening in Annapolisfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

A statewide referendum will decide if recreational marijuana will be legal in Maryland.

In Anne Arundel County, a ballot question seeks to loosen the County Council's term limit. This measure would extend the current limit of two terms of 4 years each to three terms of 4 years each, Capital Gazette journalist Dana Monro reported.

Find out what's happening in Annapolisfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Here is everything you need to know about the 2022 Maryland general election in Anne Arundel County.

What District Am I In?

Voters can see which districts they live in by using this tool. That resource also lets Marylanders:

  • Review their voter registration record.
  • Request a duplicate voter registration card.
  • Learn where to vote.
  • See their current state and federal representatives.
  • Contact their local board of elections.
  • Check the status of their mail-in or provisional ballot.
  • View their sample ballot.

Anne Arundel residents can click here to see who their county council member is.

Who Is Running For County Government?

All the candidates are posted below. The names of incumbents are bolded and starred.

Patch asked every county executive and County Council candidate to complete a questionnaire. The names of candidates who completed our survey are linked to their responses.

We also included all the campaign websites listed on the Maryland State Board of Elections candidate portal.

County Executive

County Council District 1

County Council District 2

County Council District 3

County Council District 4

County Council District 5

County Council District 6

County Council District 7

County State's Attorney

Sheriff

Who Is Running For State Government?

Governor

Comptroller

Attorney General

State Senate District 12

State Senate District 21

State Senate District 30

State Senate District 31

State Senate District 32

State Senate District 33

  • Sid Saab (R): sidsaab.com (Saab was the delegate for District 33, but he is now running to be the area's state senator)
  • Dawn D. Gile (D): dawngile.com

State House District 12B (Vote for one)

State House District 21 (Vote for up to three)

State House District 30A (Vote for up to two)

State House District 30B (Vote for one)

State House District 31 (Vote for up to three)

State House District 32 (Vote for up to three)

State House District 33A (Vote for one)

State House District 33B (Vote for one)

State House District 33C (Vote for one)

Who Is Running For Congress?

U.S. Senate

U.S. House District 3

U.S. House District 5

Is Anybody Else Running?

Yes. Several court positions and party central committee seats are also on the ballot. A full list of every race in Maryland is posted at this link.

For any other questions, visit elections.maryland.gov.

Are There Any Referendums?

Marylanders will decide five ballot measures in the Nov. 8 general election. The one with the widest impact is the question of whether recreational marijuana should be legal, known as Ballot Question 4.

If passed, residents 21 and older could use and possess up to 1.5 ounces of usable cannabis or 12 grams of concentrated cannabis on or after July 1, 2023.

More than half of Maryland's registered voters support legalizing recreational marijuana, multiple polls suggest.

Related: Biden Looks To Weed Decriminalization: What It Means Ahead Of MD Marijuana Referendum

The other statewide ballot measures, as explained by Ballotpedia, if approved would:

  • Rename the Maryland Court of Appeals as the Supreme Court of Maryland and change the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to the Appellate Court of Maryland.
  • Amend the Maryland Constitution to require that state legislators live in and maintain a primary residence in the district they wish to represent for at least six months before an election.
  • Amend the Maryland Constitution to only guarantee the right to a jury trial in civil cases if the amount in question is greater than $25,000. The current minimum for a jury trial is $15,000.
  • Amend the state constitution to require that Howard County Circuit Court judges serve on the orphans' court and repeal the county's current elections for three judgeships on the orphans' court.

The exact wording of each ballot question is listed here. A non-technical summary of each question is available on this webpage.

Several jurisdictions also have local ballot questions. Anne Arundel County's questions seek to amend the county charter to:

  • Require the Anne Arundel County Veterans Affairs Commission.
  • Provide that no person elected or appointed to the office of County Councilmember may serve more than three full consecutive four-year terms.
  • Require that the compensation paid to each member of the County Council be paid after consideration of recommendations of the Salary Standard Commission that are approved by ordinance of the County Council.
  • Remove the requirement that copies of bills and notices of public hearings be posted on a bulletin board and to require that electronic copies of bills and notice of any public hearing be published to the County Council website and that printed copies of bills be made available to the public and press and that bills receive required publication.
  • Clarify the differences between the two types of emergency ordinances allowed under the Charter and the legislative procedure that applies to each.
  • Allow the County Council to assign additional functions, duties, and personnel to the County Auditor that are related to the finances and financial affairs of the County.
  • Change the name of the Charter Revision Commission to the Redistricting and Charter Revision Commission and to amend the date by which a decennial Redistricting and Charter Revision Commission must be appointed by the County Council.
  • Be gender neutral consistent with changes recommended based on a review by the County Attorney.

All these state and county ballot questions will pass if they collect a plurality of votes. That means they just need to secure more yes's than no's.

The Howard County court question needs a plurality of votes statewide and a plurality in Howard County specifically to pass.

How Can I Register To Vote?

Voter registration closes on Oct. 18. Marylanders can check their registration status, register to vote, update their address and change their affiliation at this link.

How Can I Vote By Mail Or Drop Box?

Marylanders can request a ballot to return by mail or drop box. The state can deliver those ballots to voters by mail or fax. Voters can also download their ballot from the state's website.

Residents can request a mail-in ballot by:

The deadline for ballot requests to be received, not just sent, is:

  • Nov. 1 if the ballot will be delivered by mail or fax.
  • Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. if using the mail to request a ballot that will be sent over the internet.
  • Nov. 4 at 11:59 p.m. if using the online form or fax to request a ballot that will be sent over the internet.
  • Nov. 8 if requesting a ballot in person at a local board of elections office.

Voters can check if their ballot request was received by using this tool.

Ballots received over the internet must be printed. Voters should then return their completed ballot by mail or drop box. Marylanders cannot cast their votes online.

Residents can return their completed ballot by:

  • Hand delivering it to their local board of elections by 8 p.m. on Nov. 8 or taking it to an early voting center by the time the polls close.
  • Mailing it to their local board of elections. These ballots must be postmarked on or before Nov. 8. Election officials must receive these ballots by 10 a.m. on Nov. 18.
  • Placing it in one of these drop boxes in their county by 8 p.m. on Nov. 8. All 281 drop boxes are already in place and are currently accepting ballots.

More information on mail-in and drop-box voting is available on this website.

When Is Early Voting?

Early voting will run from Oct. 27 through Nov. 3. Early voting centers will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. each day.

Marylanders can vote early at any early voting center in their county. A full list of early voting centers is posted here.

When Is General Election Day?

Election Day is Nov. 8. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Residents must vote at their assigned polling place on Election Day. Voters can look up their polling place by using this search tool.

To read more about the general election, visit this website.

When Will The Results Be Certified?

Media outlets may project winners on election night based on large leads, but election officials will not certify the final results for at least 10 days. Officials must wait for every mail-in and provisional ballot to trickle in.

Soon after polls close on Nov. 8, the Maryland State Board of Elections will release the jurisdiction-specific tallies from in-person early voting and mail-in ballots counted up to Election Day.

Officials will then start releasing the in-person Election Day vote counts within a few hours of polls closing.

All 24 jurisdictions will start releasing their early voting and Election Day tallies on Nov. 8. That evening, only 10 jurisdictions will release their early mail-in ballot results tallied before Election Day.

The Maryland Court of Appeals on Oct. 7 ruled that local election offices can opt to start counting mail-in ballots before Election Day. They cannot release these results until after polls close on Election Day, however. Jurisdictions counting early must continue accepting mailed ballots postmarked by Nov. 8 until the statewide deadline of Nov. 18 at 10 a.m.

Related: Maryland's Highest Court Upholds Order Allowing Early Counting Of Mail-In Ballots

These jurisdictions plan to conduct pre-Election Day canvassing of mail-in ballots: Baltimore City and Allegany, Baltimore, Calvert, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's, Saint Mary's and Washington counties.

Fourteen jurisdictions do not have the space or personnel to count early mail-in ballots as they arrive.

These counties will start canvassing their mail-in ballots on Nov. 10, which is two days after Election Day: Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Charles, Dorchester, Garrett, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester counties.

"We appreciate the diligence of the local boards in assessing the most appropriate canvassing approach for their individual teams and always placing the integrity of the election process above all else to ensure the will of Maryland voters is heard through their votes," Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator Linda H. Lamone said in a press release.

Election officials will tally provisional ballots on Nov. 16. Mail-in ballots will be counted as they arrive until Nov. 18.

Local boards cannot certify their final results before Nov. 18.

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