Judge rules Maryland can count ballots before Election Day

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Tellers in Maryland will now be allowed to count mail-in and absentee ballots before Election Day.

On Friday, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge granted the Maryland State Board of Elections' request to change the process moving forward.

Election officials claimed the inability to canvass those votes before Election Day could leave several races without results for weeks or even months.

Maryland Republican candidate for governor, Dan Cox, was hoping to block the move after filing a motion earlier this week.

Maryland GOP candidate files motion to block counting of mail-in ballots early

The Republican candidate for Maryland governor, Dan Cox, has filed a motion to block counting mail-in ballots before election day. FOX 5's Tom Fitzgerald spoke to Cox in Baltimore.

By law, Maryland mail-in votes previously could not be counted until two days after the election, but after seeing a flood of mail-in votes in the July primary delay results in some races — the board filed an emergency petition.

Dan Cox files motion to block counting of mail-in ballots early

Maryland was the only state which required absentee and mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day.