Baltimore County election officials approve ballot-box change, confirm 11 early voting centers and direct waiver request

Baltimore County election officials at a special meeting approved changes to ballot-box locations, confirmed the county's 11 early voting centers for 2026 and directed staff to request a statutory waiver for the election-day polling-place plan.

Director Lavoie told the board the council map was approved in mid-September and enacted Nov. 1, and that redistricting work to align school board and council boundaries is ongoing. "We're in Election District 15 now, which is exciting news," Lavoie said, noting the team expects to finish statewide voter-registration data entry by mid-December and to mail voter-notification cards in January.

The board approved a modest change to the ballot-box plan: a ballot box will be returned to Victory Villa rather than placed at a Middle River activity center. Lavoie said the overall count of ballot-box locations would increase from 35 in 2024 to 38 in the proposed plan and that six locations are new, including two additional boxes intended to better serve voters. She said the proposed placements maintain the county's reach above 93% and prioritize locations near public transportation and high-turnout neighborhoods.

"The ballot boxes will start retrieving ballots from the ballot boxes approximately 45 days before voting," Lavoie said, citing the timelines set by the federal MOVE Act that govern when ballots for overseas and military voters are mailed. A motion to accept the Victory Villa change was made, seconded and passed; one board member, Al, said "I'm voting no," and the chair confirmed the motion carried.

On early voting, Lavoie recommended returning to the same 11 sites used in 2022 and 2024: Buttes Recreation Center; Randallstown Community Center; Towson University; Honeygo Run Community Center; Waters Edge Community Center; Victory Villa Community Center; Maryland State Fairgrounds; Reisterstown Senior Center; Woodlawn Community Center; Jacksonville Recreation Center; and the county office in Owings Mills. She said Maryland law requires at least 11 centers and that the county's plan exceeds the statutory distribution and a 5-mile reach threshold.

Lavoie acknowledged Victory Villa is smaller than ideal but said staff and Amanda have line-management plans to mitigate crowding. She also proposed two alternate sites (Owings Mills Library on the west side and Stenbridge Community Center on the east) to serve as backups if needed. The board moved, seconded and approved the list of early voting centers and alternates with no recorded opposition.

Because redistricting prevented the county from completing the full election-day polling-place component of the election plan seven months before the primary as state law usually requires, Lavoie asked the board to direct her to request a waiver. The board voted to authorize that waiver request and to schedule the finalized polling-place plan for public comment at the January meeting.

Next steps: officials will finish data entry into the statewide voter-registration system, provide finalized maps and mailing to voters after proofs are completed, and return to the board with the polling-place plan for public review and comment.