Early Voting Ends Nov. 1 In Montgomery Co.: Locations, Issues

BETHESDA, MD — Early voting ends Thursday, Nov. 1 in Montgomery County for the 2018 general election; and voters can vote in person or by absentee ballot. To vote in person, voters who live in Montgomery County may vote before Election Day at a designated early voting center or on Election Day at the polling place for their residence.

Early Voting
Early voting centers will be open for voting from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1. If you vote early, you cannot vote on Election Day or by absentee ballot.

The early voting centers in Montgomery County are located at:

• Activity Center at Bohrer Park, 506 S. Frederick Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 20877
• Damascus Community Rec Center, 25520 Oak Dr, Damascus, MD 20872
• Executive Office Building, 101 Monroe St, Rockville, MD 20850
• Germantown Community Rec Center, 18905 Kingsview Rd, Germantown MD 20874
• Jane E. Lawton Community Rec Center, 4301 Willow La, Chevy Chase MD 20815
• Marilyn Praisner Community Rec Center, 14906 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville MD 20866
• Mid-County Community Rec Center, 2004 Queensguard Rd, Silver Spring MD 20906
• Potomac Community Rec Center, 11315 Falls Rd, Potomac MD 20854
• Saint Catherine Laboure (Claridge Room), 11801 Claridge Road, Wheaton, MD 20902
• Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department (Oak Room), 17921 Brooke Rd., Sandy Spring, MD 20860
• Silver Spring Civic Building, 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring MD 20910

County voters may cast their ballots at any one of the designated early voting centers. A list of early voting locations can be found at: https://www.montgomerycountymd...

Voter registration for the general election is closed. If you want to register to vote or update your address, you can do this during early voting. Go to an early voting center in the county and bring a document that proves where you live. This document can be your MVA-issued license, ID card, or change of address card, or your paycheck, bank statement, utility bill, or other government document with you name or new address.

Residents will choose a governor, members of the Congressional delegation, and local races including county council, county executive and school board. Montgomery County residents will also weigh in on local ballot questions. They are:

Question A: Amend Section 104 of the County Charter to remove party central committees from the process for selecting the Redistricting Commission appointed by the Council every ten years to review the boundaries of Council districts, and providing that the Redistricting Commission must:

• be composed of 11 County residents who are registered voters;
• include at least one, but no more than four members of each political party which polled at least fifteen percent of the total vote cast for all candidates for the Council in the last preceding regular election; and
• include at least one member from each Council district

Question B: Amend Section 305 of the County Charter to require an affirmative vote of all current Councilmembers, rather than the specific nine votes currently required, to levy a tax on real property that will produce revenue that exceeds the annual limit on property tax revenue set in that section.

Question C: Amend Section 401 of the County Charter to permit each Councilmember to have one or more aides as non-merit employees, rather than the one confidential aide currently permitted.

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Election Day Voting
Voters who prefer to vote on election day can vote on Tuesday, Nov. 6. On Election Day, polling places will be open for voting from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. To avoid delays, voters should try to vote between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Where Do I Vote?
On Election Day, county voters should vote at their assigned polling place. Voters can find their assigned precinct by looking at the voter notification card they received from the Montgomery County Board of Elections or by clicking the Find Your Polling Place link at elections.maryland.gov. Voters who have moved but have not updated their address with the County Board of Elections should search for the polling place for their new address or contact the Montgomery County Board of Elections. It is important for voters to vote in the polling place for their new address, because only those contests for which voters are eligible to vote will be counted.

How Do I Vote?
Maryland elections are conducted with a paper-based voting system. Voters will cast votes by marking and scanning paper ballots. Most voters will use a pen to mark a paper ballot by hand and voters unable to mark a ballot by hand will use a ballot marking device. All voters will insert their marked paper ballots into a scanner.

Instructions will be available to help voters familiarize themselves with the ballot and how to vote. Voters may also ask an election judge to explain how to vote on the voting system, but a voter must vote alone, unless the voter is unable to do so because of disability, inability to write, or inability to read the ballot.

For absentee and provisional voting, voters are issued a paper ballot. Absentee voters who choose to receive their ballot electronically print their own paper ballot to mark by hand. Voters fill in the oval next to each candidate and ballot question response they select.

An online ballot marking tool is also available. Using the tool, voters mark their ballot using their computer, then print their paper ballot and return it by mail. At the Board of Elections, absentee ballots are fed into a scanning unit which reads and tabulates the selections made by voters. All provisional ballots and absentee ballots are reviewed in a public meeting after the election and counted or rejected according to state law and regulation.

How Can I Get an Absentee Ballot?
The deadline to request a mailed or faxed absentee ballot was on Tuesday, Oct. 30. However, voters can still request an electronic absentee ballot. That deadline is Friday, Nov. 1. Voters who request an electronic absentee ballot will be notified by email that their ballot is ready for download, then instructed to enter unique identifying information before printing their ballot, voting instructions, and return envelope template. Visit elections.maryland.gov/voting/absentee.html for more information.

Voted absentee ballots may be delivered to the County Board of Elections by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 6, 2018, or mailed on or before Election Day and received by the local board by Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. All absentee ballots are reviewed, regardless of whether or not the absentee ballots will impact the outcome of an election.

What is a Provisional Ballot?
Voters can visit elections.maryland.gov/elections/2018/index.html for more 2018 election information or contact the Montgomery County Board of Elections at 240-777-8500 or the State Board of Elections at 1-800-222-VOTE (8683).

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