PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — As Election Day fast approaches, some Marylanders are worried whether or not their mail-in ballots will be counted.
As of Halloween, the Maryland State Board of Elections reported that it has received more than 1.2 million mail-in ballots.
One of those was sent in by a first-time voter in Prince George's County, 21-year-old Paloma Calunga.
She posted on Reddit: "If I do not receive an update tomorrow [that my mail-in ballot was accepted], can I vote [a provisional ballot] in person?"
“I noticed for about a week now, it has been classified as received, but not accepted, and it just made me nervous, so I wanted to find out if there was an alternative to ensure my vote would be counted," Calunga said.
Deputy Administrator for the Maryland State BOE, Nikki Charlson, said technically a voter can vote a provisional ballot in person if they already mailed in their ballot, but the board urges them not to, so they don't clog the poll lines, which they estimate will already belong.
“A voter that’s been issued a ballot by mail if the voter shows up to vote, a voter’s going to have vote a provisional ballot, and that’s to make sure that we only count one ballot per voter," Charlson said.
She said voters shouldn't worry if the ballot tracker doesn't say "accepted" yet. There's an influx of ballots, and it takes some time.
“If your ballot is showing that it was received, the odds are greatly in your voter’s favor that is going to be counted," Charlson said. "The two most frequent reasons why ballots are rejected is that it was late or that a voter didn’t sign the oath. And if it says received, it’s already there. And, if the voter didn’t sign the oath the local boards of elections are reaching out to voters and telling them we didn’t get a signature on the oath, let’s figure out how we can do that.”
Charlson said election boards will be counting ballots for weeks after Election Day, which happens even on a normal election year.
Calunga said she has faith in the Board — she just wants to make sure her voice is heard.
“I’m kind of feeling the responsibility to make sure my vote, my voice is counted. So it’s really empowering, and I’m really excited," Calunga said.
The Maryland State Board of Elections highly encourages everyone to take advantage of early voting Monday to try to minimize lines on Tuesday.
For Virginia voters with concerns about their mail-in ballots, the Virginia Department of Elections said to contact their local registrar's office.
In D.C., a spokesperson for the Board of Elections said:
"There’s a difference between ballot received and ballot accepted. If a ballot is accepted, the vote is in. In that instance trying to vote again would be a major no-no. If a ballot is received, it means that BOE has gotten the ballot and it is in the system for processing. In this second instance, if a voter is incredibly nervous, he/she can cast a Special Ballot but it is really not advisable."