The Baltimore County Board of Elections, meeting in a special session, approved changes to ballot-box placement, accepted 11 early-voting centers for the 2026 primary and directed staff to request a statutory waiver for final polling-place assignments because redistricting has delayed the county's ability to complete its election plan.

Director Lavoie told the board the county is proposing 38 ballot-box locations for 2026, up from 35 in 2024, with Victory Villa replacing a proposed Middle River site. "In 2024, we had 35 locations, and now I'm proposing to have 38," Lavoie said, and she described the selection criteria as access to public transit, voter density, camera coverage and avoiding sites affected by construction.

Why it matters: Lavoie said the swap to Victory Villa — rather than moving the box to Middle River — preserves access for voters in nearby neighborhoods and avoids relocating a site that she said would have disenfranchised more than 10,000 voters. The board voted to accept the change; one member (Al) said, "I'm voting no," and the chair stated the motion carried with the remaining members voting yes.

Lavoie also presented the county's recommended 11 early-voting centers, the number Maryland law requires at minimum. Because of limited voting-equipment inventory this cycle, she said the county could not add a 12th center but plans to order equipment for a potential 12-center configuration in 2028. The recommended centers reuse sites from 2022 and 2024 and are intended to meet accessibility, geographic distribution and minority-population considerations. Lavoie said the county's buffer maps show the plan reaches above 93% of voters within five miles of a center.

On logistics, Lavoie said retrieval of ballots from ballot boxes will begin approximately 45 days before the primary, aligned with the federal MOVE Act schedule for mailing ballots to overseas voters. "We'll start retrieval the same day that the boxes are delivered," she said.

Because new council and school-board lines from recent redistricting are still being entered into the statewide voter-registration system, Lavoie asked the board to direct her to request a waiver from the state for the statutory deadline that requires a complete election plan seven months before the primary. The board moved, seconded and approved that direction on the record.

The meeting recorded no public comments on the ballot-box or early-voting items. The session concluded with a motion to enter a closed session for a personnel matter; the board planned a short break to move to a secure link for that discussion.

What the board voted on: the board approved the ballot-box placement change (Victory Villa substituted for Middle River), adopted the 11 early-voting centers and alternates, and directed staff to request a waiver for the polling-place portion of the election plan due to redistricting delays. The board then recessed to a closed session to discuss personnel.

Next steps: Lavoie said prework on redistricting should be finished this week, data entry into the statewide voter-registration system is expected by mid-December, and mailed voter-notification cards would follow as soon as the redistricting work is complete.