Montgomery County Board of Elections seeks $809,341 increase for FY27 as officials prepare for June primary

The Montgomery County Board of Elections told the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee it needs an additional $809,341 in FY27 to support election operations for the upcoming cycle, including $200,000 for election judge stipends and $167,319 to hire 69 seasonal temporary staff.

Council staff outlined the package during the committee’s budget review, listing $112,400 for licensing an election-worker management system, $24,453 for maintenance, $59,860 for overtime and a $292 inflationary adjustment for nonprofit contracts. Staff recommended the council concur with the County Executive’s proposed changes.

“Elections are driven by turnout and calendar; we need people and overtime to deliver a general election as well as a primary,” said Boris Brejkovitch, the county’s election director. He told the committee that the June 23 primary will carry some tasks into FY27 and that the office is preparing teams to pilot a statewide risk-limiting audit required by new legislation.

Board President David Naiman urged voters and the committee not to be distracted by national headlines. “We would urge voters to ignore the noise and proceed as normal unless and until we officially hear and say otherwise,” Naiman said, summarizing recent federal developments including a new USPS postmark rule and pending litigation about mail-ballot timing.

BOE officials described measures to reduce voter confusion and improve access: sample ballots distributed to all registered voters will show each voter’s election-day polling place; a texting shortcut (text CHECK to 77788) links voters to official polling-place information; and the board will continue outreach to high-school volunteers and community partners to recruit election judges.

The office also outlined steps to limit provisional-ballot backups at heavily used early-voting sites by promoting earlier voting, publishing wait times and posting QR codes and texting tools at polling locations on the final days of early voting.

Officials briefed the committee on drop-box security and transparency after complaints last year. The BOE said it redesigned drop-box hardware so visible locks will not appear until 8 p.m. on election day, and that staff pick up drop-boxes at least once a day (twice a day close to election day).

On language access, Brejkovitch said state legislation requires ballot and guide translations in specific languages; Montgomery County will produce a voter guide in additional languages by waiver and continue efforts to reach communities that do not rely on legacy media.

The committee accepted council staff’s recommendation to concur with the executive’s budget package; the transcript records no roll-call vote on the change during this session.

What’s next: BOE officials said they will continue recruitment, finalize training schedules for seasonal staff, implement the new software and keep the council updated on how the risk-limiting audit pilot progresses.