Montgomery County elections officials preparing for primary despite map uncertainty

Fox 5's David Kaplan reports on the challenges Maryland election officials are facing after the primary was pushed back due to a legal battle over the state's congressional map.

Maryland doesn’t have a congressional map yet.

The primary was already pushed back from June 28 to July 19.

That move has created some challenges for elections officials.

Gilberto Zelaya works with the Montgomery County Elections Department. He says the county is already seeking elections workers for the primary, and changing the date made that problem worse.

"Individuals that were available at the end of June, the original date, are not available in the middle of July. If they move the date, we’ll have another round of individuals who may be available for a later date and not July," Zelaya said.

Redistricting concerns delay MD primary

A court of appeals judge delayed the primary election day in the state on Tuesday from June 28 to July 19 due to a court case focused on state legislative districts and how and where residents vote to elect their state senator and representative.

Zelaya says Montgomery County wants to get the word out to its 677,870 voters about the primary date if they want to vote in person.

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However, Zelaya says people’s summer plans change and voting by mail is a safe and effective way to ensure you get a ballot on time, send it back, and have it counted.

As for Zelaya’s message to voters:

"The first one would be to flex their right to vote by mail, it’s legitimate, it’s safe, it’s easy and secure. That’s number one. Number two, not to procrastinate sending in that vote by mail. And number three is serving as a poll worker, we need individuals and without them, we can’t run an election," Zelaya said.

Last week, a judge did not accept the legislature’s map, saying they have to re-submit a new one by March 30th and then there will be a hearing on April 1.

Zelaya says elections officials are watching the case closely, both because it could impact what precinct’s ballots look like, and in case the primary gets moved again.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Trial over Maryland's new legislative maps begins

Montgomery County has a voter texting system. The number is 77788. Zelaya says the more voters can do now to ensure they’re ready to vote, the better.

Text "Vote" to register
Text "Check" to check registration
Text "VBM" to get a form to register Vote By Mail
Text "Serve" to apply to be a pollworker