Officials exploring mail vendor options for November election

Ballot and delivery woes among June primary issues

Maryland officials are looking at new vendors to potentially print and mail ballots for the November election after having several issues during the primary with the company the state used to handle sending out ballots.

The June 2 election was Maryland’s first attempt at mostly mail-in voting, a move spurred by safety precautions related to the coronavirus pandemic. It used out-of-state mail vendor SeaChange.

In Baltimore, some ballots were printed incorrectly, forcing election workers to manually transfer voters’ choices to new forms that could be scanned for correct results.

Ballots also were delivered late to voters in the city and Montgomery County, which state election officials blamed on SeaChange.

The vendor argued in turn that the state was late in sending it the necessary voter lists.

Also, Prince George’s County voters initially were sent only Spanish-language instructions, while residents of Hagerstown didn’t get a court-ordered notice in their ballot packets.

The state elections board issued a report Thursday to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, summarizing how the last election went and outlining what steps would be taken in the future to ensure a smoother process.

Among them: “In response to the performance of the vendor, evaluate all options, including options under the current contract and identifying other vendors capable of printing and mailing customized mailpieces. On May 22, the state board issued a Request for Information. Six vendors responded and are preparing to submit test ballots.”

The state’s contract with SeaChange currently extends through December, according to a copy of the contract obtained by The Baltimore Sun.

It remains unclear what the demand for mailed ballots will be in November.

The five-member state elections board also was expected to recommend to Hogan how the general election should be conducted, but it could not reach a consensus.

Instead, they outlined the pros and cons of three options: a traditional election with numerous polling places, a new model in which all voters would be sent applications for mail-in ballots, or a mostly mail-in election similar to the June primary but with additional in-person voting sites on Election Day.

The three Republicans voted Tuesday at an emergency meeting for the second option, while the two Democrats voted for the third. The vote seemed to be fractured by differing beliefs over whether voter fraud is a legitimate concern in mostly mail-in elections. The board was unanimous in opposing holding a traditional election.

The board’s report noted it could not reach a supermajority, so it instead summarized each argument for the governor. Hogan will decide how the election will be conducted.

“We don’t have a timeline yet on a decision,” Hogan spokesman Mike Ricci said Thursday. “We’ll first take time to review the report.”