Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the April 28 special election for the 7th Congressional district and the June 2 primary election were conducted mostly by mail. While some problems arose, most importantly failure to deliver mailed ballots on time to every eligible voter, voting by mail did accomplish significant successes:
- A huge number of people were able to vote without taking health risks.
- No fraud or allegations of fraud.
- No indication that problems affected the results of any race.
- Preliminary data indicate that voting by mail contributed to record high voter participation, at least in Baltimore City.
When implementing voting by mail, the state and local boards of elections made mistakes that should have been both foreseeable and preventable. The Maryland Sierra Club is participating in a coalition of organizations dedicated to making sure that everyone has an equal and fair opportunity to vote. We are working to make sure that voting by mail will work much better if it is used for the November 3 election.
Rich Norling
Political Chair
Sierra Club Maryland
https://www.sierraclub.org/maryland/maryland-sierra-club-political-program