Baltimore Mayor, Others Urge Hogan To Reconsider Election Model

BALTIMORE, MD – Ahead of back-to-back days when at least 700 Maryland residents tested positive for the coronavirus, Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young and other Democrats urged Gov. Larry Hogan to consider a hybrid model for the November election rather than the largely in-person voting platform that Hogan prefers.

On Monday, the group – led by Young – presented the proposal in a letter to Hogan in which they urged him to reconsider a largely in-person plan for voting and, instead, put the emphasis on voting by mail and extended in-person voting centers.

“We have only to look at the failures across the country of states that required vote-by-mail ballot applications in which millions of additional dollars had to be spent, elections staff overwhelmed with last minute applications that could not be processed in time for Election Day, and the resulting need to extend voting hours as voters were forced to the polls,” the letter said, according to the Baltimore Sun.

In addition to Young, the letter was signed by Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr., Frederick County Executive Jan H. Gardner, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

In the letter, the group also wrote that pulling off an election that was based largely on in-person voting would present a “Herculean” task and would set up a “course of failure” for election boards because they would essentially be trying to tally in-person and mail-in ballots at the same time.

The letter also stated concerns that because of the coronavirus, voting precincts in public places such as churches, community centers and other public spaces could be at a premium, which adds to the challenge of conducting in-person voting.

A Hogan spokesman told The Sun on Tuesday that elections should not be a partisan issue and that “everyone should have the chance to request a ballot to make their voice heard.”