• Official Maryland Website
• Secretary of State Website
• Elections Website
• Absentee Voting Website
  

Summary

To register to vote in Maryland you must:

• be a U.S. citizen
• be a Maryland resident
• be at least 18 years old by the next general election
• not be under guardianship for mental disability
• not have been convicted of buying or selling votes
• not have been convicted more than once of a crime of violence (Criminal Law, Art. 14-101)
• not have been convicted of an infamous crime unless you have been pardoned; you have completed the court imposed sentence (first conviction); or at least three years have passed since you completed the court-imposed sentence (second or later conviction). Infamous crime means any felony or any other crime involving an element of deceit, fraud or corruption. Court-imposed sentence includes probation, parole, community service, restitutions and fines.

When?

• Throughout Maryland, polls are open continuously from 7:00 AM until 8:00 PM on Election Day. Anyone in line at 8:00 PM will be allowed to vote.

Where?

• Voters are required to vote where they reside. If your voter registration is up-to-date, you can refer to your Voter Notification Card for your precinct number and polling place location or use the Polling Place Locator. However, if you moved (more than three weeks before the election) and did not update your voter registration information, you will need to contact your Local Board of Elections to find out your proper polling place (based on your new residence address). You will be required to vote a provisional ballot at the new polling place.

Absentee Voting

Any registered voter may vote by absentee ballot in Maryland, but you must swear an oath that is returned with your voted ballot that you "will be absent or unable to vote in person in the election." If you will not be absent or are able to vote in person in the election, you should plan on voting at your polling place on election day. Request a Maryland absentee ballot by completing the Absentee Ballot Application (pdf) (formulario y instrucciones disponibles también en español)(pdf). Enter the required information on the form, print the form, sign it, and send it to your local board of elections. General statement on voting in this state. Include summary of voting process in the state -- eg, all on one day or 100% mail voting or voting over a period of days (if so, what is the range of dates and places? link to this information!)

For absentee voting and provisional voting, voters use a paper-based optical scan voting system (AccuVote-OS or Model ES-2000). With this system, a voter is issued a paper ballot and completes the oval next to the candidate or ballot question response for which the voter wants to vote. At the local board of elections, the ballot is fed into a scanning unit, which reads and tabulates the selections made by the voter.

Deadlines

• Deadline to register to vote in November 2008 election: October 14, 2008
  
• Deadline to register for absentee ballot in November 2008 election: 4:30 p.m. on October 28, 2008 (mailed) / 11:59 p.m. on October 28, 2008 (faxed)
• Absentee Ballot Return: 8pm election day

Voting Equipment
All voters in Maryland use the same voting system. For polling place voting, voters use a touchscreen voting system by Premier Election Solutions (AccuVote-TS). With a touchscreen voting system, a voter touches the screen to make, change, and review selections and cast a ballot. A demonstration of how to vote on Maryland's touchscreen voting system is available.