Anne Arundel starts counting mail-in ballots ahead of Tuesday’s primary

With just days left before the primary, the Anne Arundel Board of Elections is already counting the mail-in ballots.

This year, the county sent out 62,554 ballots, according to David Garreis, director of the board of elections. As of May 9, the last day of early voting, 29,221 have been returned. Of those, 22,909 have been counted.

During the 2022 primary, the county sent out 45,183 mail-in ballots and 32,402 were returned. This year, the number of returned ballots was “modest,” he said.

Last year, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing counties to begin counting mail-in ballots eight days before early voting begins. Early voting kicked off May 2, and the mail-in ballot count started on April 22. Previously, the counting didn’t begin until the Thursday after the election, he said.

“We get so many mail-in ballots now, this allows us to get ahead of the curve,” Garreis said.

He added that they are expecting and are prepared for the number of mail-in ballot requests for the November election to “skyrocket.” In 2022, the county sent out 69,887 mail-in ballots and received 60,070 back.

Results from early voting and mail-in ballots will be released starting May 14 at 8 p.m.