WASHINGTON — With some key primary races in Montgomery County and elsewhere in Maryland still too close to call the day after voters went to the polls, the official process for counting provisional and absentee ballots is set to begin Thursday.
The thousands of absentee and provisional ballots issued could play a key role in the closely watched Montgomery County executive’s race where the top two contenders are locked in a virtual tie, separated by fewer than 500 votes. But it will take until the end of next week before the state certifies the official results and a winner is declared.
In Montgomery County, there were 14,902 absentee ballots and 3,616 provisional ballots issued, according to figures released Wednesday by the county’s board of elections.
The board will start counting the first batch of absentee ballots Thursday at 1 p.m. Provisional ballots will start being counted starting July 5. Then, the second batch of absentee ballots will be counted July 6.
With all other precincts in the county reporting results, veteran Montgomery County Council member Marc Elrich led businessman David Blair by just 452 votes in the race for county executive, according to unofficial results posted on the Maryland State Board of Elections website.
In Baltimore County, another narrow split among three candidates for county executive remained too close to call on Election Day. John “Johnny O” Olszewski, Jr. led Jim Brochin by just 362 votes and Vicki Almond by 1,046 votes in the race for county exec.
The number of provisional ballots cast statewide Tuesday may end up higher than usual. A voter registration blunder at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration prevented some voters from updating their voter registration information before Election Day meaning up to 80,000 voters may have been forced to cast provisional ballots Tuesday night. It’s unclear how many of those voters sought to vote Tuesday.
