Welcome to our weekly column in which a topic of interest, piece of news, relevant opinion, or general request for feedback is presented. We’ll offer the topic du jour and accompanying question, and you have the opportunity to respond with your thoughts.
Simply fill out the form below. A collection of each week’s responses will appear in the following week’s column. To view responses on last week’s topic "Cost of Holiday Travel & Leisure", click here.
Publisher reserves the right to edit responses for clarity and publish online and/or in our print publications.
Please let us know your thoughts!
This week’s Feedback Friday topic is:
Primary Election Early & Mail-In Voting
On Thursday morning, 96 early voting centers opened throughout Maryland for the primary election, ahead of the official election day, July 19th. Early voting will remain open through the 14th.
For those choosing to mail in their ballots, requests for the mail-in paper ballots must be made by July 12th through the State Board of Elections website: https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/OnlineMailinRequest/InstructionsStep1
A preliminary report from the State Board had the number of early ballots cast in person at just over 19,000 thus far. Compare this number to the 31,000 ballots cast on the first day of early voting in the gubernatorial primary four years ago. The drop may be attributed to the increase of requests for mail-in ballots.
In the 2018 primary, the state sent out just over 42,000 mail-in ballots, with about 30,000 returned by voters. This year, more than 477,000 mail ballots have been requested, with over 25,000 having been returned as of Wednesday.
Seems there’s trust in the both the early and mail-in voting systems. But what do you think?
Do you trust Maryland’s early, mail-in, and day-of balloting to confirm primary election winners? What method will you use to cast your votes this year?
Please share your thoughts by filling out this form. Today’s responses—and all future Feedback Friday responses—will be published in our Monday newsletters after the weekend. AND, several responses from recent topics will appear in our upcoming print magazines!
