Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the latest results in the Maryland 6th Congressional District race from the Maryland State Board of Elections.
While races for the U.S. presidency and most state and local offices have been called, the election isn’t over. At Montgomery College’s Germantown campus, the Montgomery County Board of Elections ballot canvass continued Thursday, and will continue until every eligible mail-in and provisional ballot is processed.
The canvass is being closely observed with the race in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District remaining too close to call and expected to be determined by mail-in and provisional votes. Some members of national congressional party committees stopped in to observe the process. As of Friday morning, Democrat April McClain Delaney was leading Republican Neil Parrott by 8,764 votes, according to results reported by the Maryland State Board of Elections.
Some members of national congressional party committees stopped in to observe the process.
“The election is not over, as far as we’re concerned, until all of the eligible ballots are counted,” county elections board President David Naimon told MoCo360 in an interview at the canvassing center Thursday. “Regardless of whether the media has declared a winner, we do not declare winners until we count all the ballots.”
While nationwide results indicate Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives, the 6th District contest is one of a handful of battleground races that could impact which party controls the chamber.
One hundred bipartisan volunteers were on hand to process mail-in ballots Thursday, the first day of canvassing since Election Day. However, volunteers already sorted through ballots at four scheduled canvass meetings held since Oct. 15, when the board was first allowed by state law to start processing mail-in ballots that had been received.
“There’s a great spirit on everyone’s part that they’re doing their part for democracy in Montgomery County,” Naimon said of the workers and volunteers. “This is not the beginning of the process for us. This is the middle of the process for us.”
Election officials and volunteers will take a one-day break from canvassing between each canvass meeting. However, officials will still work during the off-day, preparing and sorting batches of mail-in ballots to be processed during the next canvass meeting.
Officials are also conducting research on provisional ballots, according to Naimon. Under state law, provisional ballots cannot be processed until the second Wednesday after the election, which is Nov. 13. However, election workers can work to determine whether each provisional ballot was eligible to be cast and verify the identity and eligibility of the voter before it is processed.
Naimon said there are “thousands” of provisional ballots to be processed. Voters are often directed to vote via provisional ballot if they go to the wrong precinct, if their identity or voter registration status cannot be verified, or if they participate in same-day voter registration. There are also voters who may decide to vote at the polls if they did not receive confirmation that their mail-in ballot was received. In that case, they can only cast a ballot in-person provisionally to ensure they only voted once, Naimon said.
“According to the state law, it’s whichever is the first valid ballot counted, is the one that counts,” Naimon said.
The board also meets once or twice during each canvass meeting to assess ballots that are referred to them by canvassers for having various issues. At Thursday’s canvass, the board made decisions on voter intent based on how voters may have marked out, crossed out, or erased their markings. During the meeting there was some debate, but the bipartisan team of board members usually came to a consensus on how the ballot should be interpreted.
