County provides ballot-replacement guidance after state printing error; dropbox, early-vote tools highlighted

County Executive Mark and Dr. Gilberto Zlaya, community relations and public relations officer for the Montgomery County Board of Elections, briefed residents on election logistics and a replacement-ballot process after a state printing error sent incorrect party ballots to some mail recipients.

Dr. Gilberto Zlaya said about 126,900 mail-in ballots were sent and that roughly 120,000 voters are on the permanent mailing list. The county reported receiving more than 25,000 mail ballots and canvassing over 12,900 of those returns; a subset of ballots issued before May 14 required replacement after the state-identified printing error, Zlaya said. The county scheduled a pre-election mail-in canvass for Sunday at 12:00 p.m., open to observers in person at the training and canvass center (18756 North Frederick Avenue, Suite 203) and via a live feed at 777vote.org.

Zlaya reminded voters that Montgomery County maintains 58 ballot dropboxes available 24 hours a day through election night (June 23, 8:00 p.m.). He instructed residents to text the word BOX and their zip code to 77788 to locate the nearest dropbox (Spanish: send BON and your zip code to 77788). County teams pick up mail-in ballots daily, seven days a week, and work on a bipartisan basis to ensure secure transport and processing.

The county recommends voters hand-deliver ballots to a post office on the last day of acceptance so postal staff can date-stamp (frank) the return envelope; Zlaya cautioned that not all post offices guarantee same-day date stamping and urged voters to sign the voter oath on the return envelope. Montgomery County also operates 14 early-voting centers; Zlaya said about 16,640 residents voted early over the prior six days with minimal wait times and that centers are open until 8:00 p.m. or until the last voter in line has voted. For early-voting locations and current wait times, text EV plus your zip code to 77788.

Zlaya reminded residents that Maryland holds closed primaries and explained that voters who present at a polling place outside their assigned precinct on election day will vote provisionally. He urged voters to make a plan and provided the post-election contact tool: after early voting ends, text FIND to 77788 to discover your election-day polling place. He also thanked election judges, encouraged volunteers to sign up for the November general election (text SERVE and an email address to 77788) and said the county will coordinate training after certification.

In a later question-and-answer exchange, a participant asked whether voters may bring phones into polling places. Zlaya said this guidance came from the state and allows voters to bring phones to make selections or present identification but forbids photographing or recording inside polling locations.

The county directed voters with specific concerns about replacement ballots, or who believe they received incorrect ballots, to the county and state board websites (777vote.org and vote.md.gov) and invited observers to the scheduled Sunday canvass.