Voting Truth to Power
Prince George’s Board of Elections Makes Presentation, Shares Update With County Council
By Raoul Dennis
Like many residents in this unique 2020 election season, the Prince Georges County Council is getting as much of an education in the mechanics of the election process as they are a needed and routine update on ballot process.
The Prince Georges County Board of Elections (PGCBOE) provided a thorough presentation on both process and progress regarding the upcoming November 3 election at the September 22 County Council meeting.
See Board of Elections presentation by clicking here and forwarding to 35:20. See full video of the meeting by clicking here.
Among several highlights of the presentation, the board announced that residents will begin receiving ballots at their home mailboxes as early as this week. These are ballots that were requested by thousands of county residents who have chosen to pursue mail in voting as opposed to in person. Leaders are expecting some 400,000 Prince Georgians to vote in the upcoming presidential election (there are nearly 600,000 registered voters in the county).
Voters may continue to request mail-in ballots but are responsible for making sure their ballots are in before Election Day (Nov 3). County and board of election leaders continue to call upon voters to request ballots early and to return them immediately after carefully and completely following the instructions for completing their ballots.
Alisha Alexander, Prince Georges County Board of elections administrator.
The session was led by PGCBOE Administrator Alisha Alexander.
When asked what media and advertising dollars might be allocated to the board of elections to help with getting the word out to residents about the many adjustments and timing concerns regarding the 2020 election, Ms. Alexander noted that there was no such budget shared by the state.
The Alsobrooks administration, County Council members, local business leaders and faith-based institutions are shouldering the burden of informing the public directly alongside whatever efforts institutional agencies such as the board of elections may be able to provide. Council members carefully questioned and analyzed information they received as they prepared to share information with their constituents.
Prince Georges County Board of Elections offices at 1100 Mercantile Ln. in Largo.
The following are some of the key points:
There will be 41 voting centers in total and Prince George’s County. Click here for locations.
FedEx Field will be a voting location this year.
208,000 mail in ballot applications have been requested as of September 22.
Voters can either mail their return ballots or drop them off at voting drop-off boxes. Drop-off locations are listed here. Ballots can also be returned directly to the board of elections offices at 1100 Mercantile Lane, Suite 115A, Largo Maryland 20774.
If voters have requested a mail-in ballot online, they should be receiving the ballot in the mail beginning this week. Voters can track the progress of their incoming ballot by utilizing the tracking number they were given when they made the online request.
The board of elections will establish an online dashboard for monitoring registration processes. Voters are encouraged to keep an eye on this process.
There will be two bilingual vote specialists (Spanish) at each voting site around the County
Mail-in ballots can be requested now through October 20
In order to have the majority of ballots counted by Election Night (Nov 3), mail-in ballots must be received by October 28 at the latest. This does not mean ballots received after October 28 but before November 3 will not still be counted. All ballots will be counted. PGCBOE clarifies that Election Night announcements here will be based on ballots received to them by October 28.
Council members are hosting various virtual meetings, events and town hall oriented activities over the next five weeks to inform voters. Voters are encouraged to monitor communications from their county council members’ offices for specific information and dates of events. A great deal of information can be found by clicking here.
The Council members gave recognition to the PGCBOE for its dedication and the long hours staff members are applying due to this uniquely difficult election season.
