Mail-in votes for Thiru Vignarajah will still be counted, Maryland State Board of Elections says
Votes by mail for Thiru Vignarajah in the Baltimore City mayoral primary election will still be counted, the Maryland State Board of Elections said.
Vignarajah dropped out of the Democratic race last week, less than 24 hours before early voting began, and endorsed Sheila Dixon in her bid to unseat incumbent Brandon Scott. The deadline to formally withdraw from the race was in February.
The board said in a news release that under state law, voters may only cast one ballot each, so anyone who already mailed, delivered or dropped off a vote for Vignarajah cannot request nor cast another ballot. Any requests for a second ballot will be denied, and any provisional ballots cast during early voting or Election Day will not be counted, the board said.
A poll from April conducted by The Baltimore Sun, the University of Baltimore and FOX45 showed Scott with support from 38% of likely primary voters, while Dixon had 35% — a difference within the poll’s margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.3 percentage points. Ten percent of voters in the poll said they would support Vignarajah, and 48% of his supporters said Dixon was their second choice, while 19% said Scott. David Smith, co-owner of The Baltimore Sun and chairman of FOX45’s parent company, has donated at least $250,000 to Dixon’s campaign.
Voters who have marked a mail-in ballot but not mailed it may request a new mail-in ballot online at Elections.Maryland.Gov, and the deadline for the board to receive a request for another ballot is May 10. Past that deadline, voters can go to their local Board of Elections for another ballot. Election Day for the primary is Tuesday, May 14.