Tiny percentage of Md. voters cast two ballots in recent election, audit finds

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More than 100 Marylanders voted twice in the 2020 election, representing a microscopic proportion of the state’s electorate, according to an audit released Friday that affirmed the soundness of an elections process that has largely avoided the pervasive, unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud seen in other states.

The State Board of Elections prevented nearly 1,400 voters from casting multiple ballots in 2020, and it caught those who did, later referring them to the Office of the State Prosecutor to potentially be criminally charged.

The State Board of Elections also contended that auditors inflated the number of people who voted more than once in 2020. While auditors listed the number as 134, a system error that has since been corrected assigned an additional voting credit to 28 Harford County voters, lowering the number to 106, according to the State Board of Elections.

Either way, the number represents about 0.00003% of the state’s more than 4 million active voters.

“We have a transparent and accountable election process here in the state,” said state Sen. Clarence Lam, a co-chair of the legislative Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee. “While there are other states that have seen a lot of turmoil when it comes to the administration of their elections, I think we have really avoided that here in Maryland.”

The audit, though, found that the State Board of Elections didn’t always refer in a timely manner potentially illegal voter activity to the Office of the State Prosecutor for investigation and prosecution.

About 1,370 people tried to vote more than once, but the State Board of Elections didn’t report them to the state prosecutor until April 2022, roughly 16 months after the 2020 election results were certified.

Auditors recommended that the State Board of Elections work with the Office of the State Prosecutor to establish guidance for timely referrals of potentially illegal voter activity.

The state board agreed with the recommendation but noted that its review process is dependent on receiving analysis and documentation from 24 local boards of elections.

There were also more than 300 voters with duplicate registrations and more than 2,400 active registered voters who were potentially dead between late 2018 and mid-2022, according to the audit, prompting auditors to recommend the State Board of Elections improve its process for identifying duplicate registrations and dead voters.

The State Board of Elections, though, stated that auditors “mischaracterized” the figures, as nearly one-third of the voters died in Maryland but listed another state as their residence on their death certificate, and three of the potentially dead voters were still alive.

During the audit period, local boards of elections canceled nearly 146,000 voter registrations after receiving their death notices from the Maryland Department of Health, family members and other sources.

The State Board of Elections argued that the number of potentially dead voters during the audit period was about 900, or less than 1% of all voters that should’ve been removed.

The state board also found fewer than 300 duplicate voter records, or 0.006% of all active voters.

The state’s elections administrator at the time of the audit was Linda Lamone, who retired in September after 25 years as the top elections official.

She remained in the position after calls from Republican former Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and Democratic former Comptroller Peter Franchot for her to step down following the 2020 primary election, citing “voter disenfranchisement through gross administrative incompetence,” widespread irregularities and “inexcusable delays in the disbursement of ballots” in Baltimore.

The election was delayed more than a month and complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic as elections officials sought to set up a nearly all-mail election for the first time.

The board voted unanimously this summer for Lamone’s successor to be Jared DeMarinis, the director of candidacy and campaign finance for the last 18 years.

Lam, a Democrat who represents Anne Arundel and Howard counties, said that state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have a deep respect and deference for DeMarinis and his leadership.

“We have a lot of confidence that Mr. DeMarinis will take these findings seriously and tighten up what is already an already tight process,” Lam said.