BALTIMORE — The president of the Maryland Association of Election Officials has told the state elections board that it’s becoming impossible to fill vacancies for nearly 14,000 election judges before Nov. 3.
The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday that local election boards are struggling to comply with Gov. Larry Hogan’s order that every polling place open for the general election.
David Garreis, the president of the association, said there is a 35% vacancy rate for election judges. He described it as an emergency because local boards for are expected to handle substantial turnout.
Election judges operate polling places. They tend to be older and therefore at higher risk for coronavirus complications.
“As everyone knows, without the election judges, it’s impossible for the local boards to open all the polling places,” Garreis said. ”Every day, as the public health crisis increases and the news generally deteriorates, more of our election judges are dropping out.”
Garreis has proposed an alternative that would accommodate in-person voters at “vote centers,” which are typically larger than a neighborhood polling place.
But Mike Ricci, the governor’s communications director, reiterated a plan on Thursday to actively encourage state employees to help supplement staffing needs of local election boards.
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