Caroline County Board of Elections reviews 2026 plan, approves minutes and moves into closed session

The Caroline County Board of Elections convened at 11:02 a.m.; the Chair called the meeting to order and announced a quorum was present.

The board approved the minutes of its Nov. 14 meeting by voice vote after a motion recorded as made by Margaret and seconded by Suzanne, with ayes noted by members.

A staff member reported that the county was presented to the State Board of Elections on Dec. 4 and "it was approved," the staff member said. The staff summary said the plan covers polling places, ballot drop boxes and early voting operations.

The staff member also provided voter registration totals for November and December for the board and reported continued recruitment efforts for election judges, noting the county still needs additional Republican judges to balance partisanship in some polling places. The staff said an election judge assignment report dated Dec. 3 highlights remaining vacancies.

On candidate filings, the staff member said 14 candidates had filed for local contests as of Dec. 3 and that statewide and local candidate lists are available on the Maryland State Board of Elections website, which was recently updated.

During a review of the Nov. 14 minutes, a committee member asked whether the minutes needed an explicit statement that the regular meeting had been closed; the staff member and Chair confirmed the closed-session language appears on page 2 of those minutes.

The board heard no attorney report, no old business, no new business and no public comments. The staff requested skipping the January meeting because of a potential jury-duty conflict; the board agreed to move the next regular meeting to Feb. 13 at 9:30 a.m., pending availability.

Before adjourning the open meeting, the Chair read the statutory basis for closing the meeting under the Open Meetings Act (general provisioned article 3305 b1) to discuss appointment and personnel matters and requested a motion. A committee member moved to enter closed session (the transcript records Dana as the mover in one exchange); the board voted by voice to go into closed session and adjourned the open meeting to proceed to the closed session.

The board noted attendees at the Nov. 14 closed session included Susan Campos, Margaret Thompson, Dana Callahan, Walter Palmer and Jared DeMarinis; the state board elections administrator joined that closed session virtually. The meeting proceeded to closed session and no further public business was conducted that day.