Maryland: at least 3 races hinge on provisional ballots
The Baltimore Sun reports: Local election officials began the painstaking process yesterday of sorting through thousands of sealed provisional ballots that could determine the outcome of a Washington-area congressional race and at least two state legislative contests.
"I'm not sure how many [provisional ballots] we have because it took us three days just to get them out of all of the bags," said Jacqueline K. McDaniel, the director of elections in Baltimore County, where some races hang in the balance. "We know what we sent out, but we have to figure out how many are spoiled."
Provisional ballots are cast on paper and are most commonly used when a voter's eligibility is in question. But major mistakes during Tuesday's primary, including equipment that abruptly turned off or went missing, forced some precincts to rely on them for several hours. A few precincts ran out and resorted to instructing voters to write their choices on scrap pieces of paper.
State elections chief Linda H. Lamone has ordered local elections officials in Baltimore and three counties to draw action plans to make sure the problems are not repeated during the Nov. 7 general election. -- Provisional ballots getting close attention - baltimoresun.com