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Caroline County Board of Elections reviews staffing, judge recruitment and Open Meetings Act finding
Summary
At its June meeting, the Caroline County Board of Elections introduced a new member, reviewed election staffing and judge recruitment for 2026, distributed the State Board of Elections 2026 calendar, and discussed an Open Meetings Act compliance opinion. The board scheduled state ethics training and voted to enter a closed session on personnel.
The Caroline County Board of Elections on June 9 introduced its newest member and reviewed preparations for the 2026 election season, including judge recruitment, candidate filing totals and a recently resolved lawsuit that cleared out stored 2020 election materials.
Board members began the meeting by welcoming Angel Perez, who introduced himself: "My name is Angel Perez. I've been living and working in Caroline County for the last 10 years," and described prior work with the Caroline County Family YMCA and at the Chesapeake Culinary Center. The board then approved minutes from its April 11 meeting as amended; Margaret Thompson moved to approve the minutes and Suzanne Campos seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Allison Murphy, the elections director, presented the director's report and highlighted staffing and operational items for 2026. Murphy said the office sent a recruitment form to prior election judges on June 3 and had received "about 50 replies out of probably a 110 maybe. So that's pretty good so far. Of those 50, only 2 judges have replied that they're unable to return." She said the office is updating the election judges manual with other local boards through a work group and distributed a copy of the State Board of Elections' 2026 election calendar for planning.
Murphy also reported that the county was able to shred stored 2020 election materials after a lawsuit was resolved, freeing warehouse space. She told the board that Debbie Brohan will leave the office on July 31, that the vacancy was posted June 17 and the posting closes July 1, and that, as of the director's June 9 report, five candidates had filed for local offices (the packet's earlier figure of two was a typo).
The board reviewed a newsletter distributed to potential election judges that reminded recipients about training, pay and a change intended to maintain equal representation of the two major parties at each polling place. Murphy said the office will prioritize filling judge vacancies first with Republican and Democratic party–affiliated judges and then use unaffiliated judges if necessary.
Paul Palmer, the board attorney, praised staff responsiveness during recent Open Meetings Act inquiries: "I think kudos to the staff, because I really do think that, that we got on this quickly and it saved us a lot of legal trouble down the line." The meeting packet also included an official opinion dated May 12, 2025, from the Open Meetings Act compliance board finding that the Caroline County Board of Elections was not in violation of the act; board members were asked to sign documentation acknowledging that finding before leaving the meeting.
Under new business, the board scheduled state ethics training for board members on July 11 at 10:30 a.m.; the director said the training will be delivered on-site and is expected to last about an hour. The board then voted to enter a closed session under the Open Meetings Act provision cited during the meeting to discuss personnel matters, and later adjourned following the closed session vote.
The board set its next regular meeting for July 11 at 9:30 a.m. and noted that members who still need to complete state-mandated ethics training may receive that training immediately after the meeting in a scheduled closed session.
