Nonpartisan Election Protection Assistance Available for Voters

“Our government ‘by the people’ is stronger and more representative when more people vote.”

Common Cause Maryland reminds voters that Early Voting in this month’s primary elections will end tomorrow, Thursday, July 14. 

Early voting locations will be open until from 7am to 8pm, and voters may cast their ballots at any early voting location in the county that they live in. A list of early voting locations for the primary election is available at 

• https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2022/2022_Early%20Voting_Centers.pdf (English) and 
• https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2022/2022_Early_Voting_Centers_Spanish.pdf (en español).

This year’s primary elections were delayed by the redistricting process. Primary Election Day will be Tuesday, July 19, 2022.

Voters who have questions or problems can contact the nonpartisan Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE. Started in the wake of the 2000 presidential election, the program is now run by a nonpartisan coalition of more than 100 organizations. It has more than 40,000 volunteers nationwide, including more than 1,100 in Maryland. Hotline assistance is also available in Spanish at 888-VE-Y-VOTA; in Asian languages at 888-API-VOTE; and in Arabic at 844-YALLA-US. 

Nonpartisan Election Protection volunteers will be on-hand to answer questions at some Early Voting Centers through Thursday; and will also be at some polling locations on Primary Day. 

In the statewide primary, only voters who are registered with either the Republican or Democratic party may vote – and they may only vote in their party’s primary. Minor party and unaffiliated voters cannot vote in the statewide primary. However, the city of Baltimore is holding nonpartisan primaries for the first time using the same schedule as the state primary. Minor party and unaffiliated voters in Baltimore may vote in the city primary only.

All voters participating in the primaries may choose to vote by mail. Voters who have not already requested a mail ballot may pick up mail ballots in-person at their local elections office.

Mail ballots for the primary may be returned via ballot drop boxes. A list of drop boxes in each county is available at

• https://elections.maryland.gov/voting/documents/Primary_Ballot_Drop_Box_List.pdf (English) and
• https://elections.maryland.gov/voting/documents/Primary_Ballot_Drop_Box_List_Span.pdf (en español).

Mail ballots for the primary must be postmarked or deposited in a ballot dropbox before 8pm on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. More information is available at https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2022/index.html#mail_in_ballot.

Marylanders who are not currently registered to vote may register and vote tomorrow during Early Voting, or on Primary Election Day. Eligible Marylanders must provide proof of where they live, such as their MVA-issued license, ID card, or change of address card, or a paycheck, bank statement, utility bill, or other government document with their name and address. Voters who are already registered to vote may update or correct their name and address, but may not change their party affiliation to vote in a different party’s primary. Voters who update their registration at the polling place will have to vote a provisional ballot. More information is available at https://elections.maryland.gov/voter_registration/index.html 

Voters who vote in-person on Primary Election Day must do so at their assigned polling places. Polls will be open from 7am to 8pm on Tuesday, July 19. 

About 15,000 Maryland voters were initially assigned to the wrong precinct because of administrative errors related to the reprecincting process. Elections officials are contacting those voters to provide corrected information – including new, corrected ballots for those who had already requested mail ballots.

Voters who plan to vote in-person on Primary Election Day are urged to allow sufficient time to accommodate delays at polling places and the possibility they may need to go to another location to vote.

Statement of Common Cause Maryland Executive Director Joanne Antoine

The freedom to vote is the foundation of our government – and primary elections are an important part of the elections process. Our government ‘by the people’ is stronger and more representative when more people vote.

Maryland’s voters have choices about how to cast our ballots: by mail, early in-person, or in-person on election day. But each of these methods have deadlines that voters need to know about, to make sure that our ballots will count. Early in-person voting ends Thursday at 8pm. Mail ballots need to be postmarked or deposited in a ballot drop box by 8pm on Tuesday. In-person Election Day voting will be from 7am to 8pm on Tuesday.

We also need to remember that it may take days for the primary election results to be finalized, because the mail ballots need to be processed before they’re counted. Unfortunately, Governor Hogan vetoed a bill that would have allowed the pre-processing of mail ballots – and that means elections officials still have to wait until the day after the election to begin checking oaths and opening envelopes. In 2020, more than half of all ballots were cast by mail, and this year’s elections may exceed that. 

Voters who have questions or need assistance can call or text the Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE, or speak with a volunteer at your voting location. The nonpartisan Election Protection program has been helping voters for more than two decades – and voters should take advantage of that expertise, regardless of which primary you’re voting in.