Montgomery Co. must do more to clear up ‘insulting’ election mistake, voter says
Some voters think that more needs to be done to clear up confusion after elections officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, recently mailed incorrect details about the upcoming presidential election to tens of thousands of people.
“I know it’s a mistake, but it’s very insulting,” said Marta López Moersen, one of the voters impacted by the error.
The Montgomery County Board of Elections mailed out a packet of information, which included a Spanish section that said the early voting period begins on Nov. 24.
“Del 24 al 31 de noviembre de 2024,” is how the date was written on the packet.
Early voting actually begins on Oct. 24, and Election Day is on Nov. 5.
“They missed a whole month,” López Moersen said. “What really surprised me is that, as sophisticated as Montgomery County is, they would make such a careless mistake.”
It went out to 132,217 registered voters in the 8th Congressional District.
The board acknowledged its error on its website and on social media, but López Moersen said she doesn’t believe that is adequate.
“I don’t think most people go to the electoral website to look up things,” López Moersen said. “I don’t think that’s enough.”
She said she would like to see the board mail out a postcard to all of the impacted voters, clearly stating the error and issuing a correction.
Gilberto Zelaya, a spokesman for the elections board, said that would not happen.
However, he said the board would be sending sample ballots that include the correct dates to all 684,000 active registered voters in the county.
“After the team met together and looked at different scenarios, the best option, the correct option, the appropriate option was to send out a complete and correct sample ballot,” Zelaya said.
According to Zelaya, the sample ballots will be mailed out in early October.
“I think what’s important is ensuring that the electorate gets the correct dates,” Zelaya said, “whether it’s in English or Spanish, and that’s our goal.”