Discussion: ballot drop boxes
in: Becks; Becks > 2020-10-06
Oct 7, 2020 5:24 AM
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On Sunday I rode my bike to the nearest ballot drop box location in Baltimore county (there are ~45 for Baltimore county - 44 more than any county in TX! Woot!). This one happens to be at the county board of elections office itself. It's very close to my house - I run near it almost every day. There is almost no signage at the entrance, and it sits back about 200m from the road. Here's the google street view of the driveway. Amazingly, the small yellow sign here has been replaced with an even smaller white sign that does at least have the words "county board of elections" on it, along with "maintenance and vehicle facility," but nothing about an actual office. As you can see, there are utility and police vehicles parked along the drive at the back end, and a gate.
I didn't go down there on Sunday because it didn't look like a public access facility, either on the photos or in person. Went home and verified that this is in-fact the address the election board listed as the drop box location, and the box was supposed to be in place by Sep 30. So I went back today on foot. There's now a set of homemade poster-paper signs with the word "VOTE" spelled out in colored electrical tape at this driveway and at the neighboring businesses' driveways. Not clear if these signs were made by the elections board, the businesses tired of people knocking on their doors asking for directions, or Good Samaritans. Maybe just some bored kids.
Fine, so I ran to the end of the driveway. Here's the street view of the building itself, just past the electric gate with keypad. Still almost no signage - just a brick warehouse with a row of loading dock ports. The first thing I noticed was the white box about twice the size of a USPS mailbox, which is what I'm expecting the drop box to look like. If you zoom in on the street view you can see that its actually a small, white dumpster. My next thought was the vote-dumping thing in PA :| Great...
As I got closer I could see the sign with an arrow and the words "Board of Elections" pointing around the corner. On the right hand side of the warehouse there's a nondescript glass door entrance, and on the far side of that is an actual white ballot drop box. At least I assume that's the official drop box. It is labeled as such.
Am I just crazy in thinking that the primary drop box for Baltimore county - at the County Board of Elections Office itself - should be a little easier to find? Maybe they're trying not to draw attention to the elections office, but if that's the case why even put a drop box there? I hope the other locations around the county (many at school buildings) are easier to find.
I didn't go down there on Sunday because it didn't look like a public access facility, either on the photos or in person. Went home and verified that this is in-fact the address the election board listed as the drop box location, and the box was supposed to be in place by Sep 30. So I went back today on foot. There's now a set of homemade poster-paper signs with the word "VOTE" spelled out in colored electrical tape at this driveway and at the neighboring businesses' driveways. Not clear if these signs were made by the elections board, the businesses tired of people knocking on their doors asking for directions, or Good Samaritans. Maybe just some bored kids.
Fine, so I ran to the end of the driveway. Here's the street view of the building itself, just past the electric gate with keypad. Still almost no signage - just a brick warehouse with a row of loading dock ports. The first thing I noticed was the white box about twice the size of a USPS mailbox, which is what I'm expecting the drop box to look like. If you zoom in on the street view you can see that its actually a small, white dumpster. My next thought was the vote-dumping thing in PA :| Great...
As I got closer I could see the sign with an arrow and the words "Board of Elections" pointing around the corner. On the right hand side of the warehouse there's a nondescript glass door entrance, and on the far side of that is an actual white ballot drop box. At least I assume that's the official drop box. It is labeled as such.
Am I just crazy in thinking that the primary drop box for Baltimore county - at the County Board of Elections Office itself - should be a little easier to find? Maybe they're trying not to draw attention to the elections office, but if that's the case why even put a drop box there? I hope the other locations around the county (many at school buildings) are easier to find.
Oct 7, 2020 7:50 PM
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That reminds me of this quote from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”
“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”
Oct 11, 2020 4:32 AM
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Heh, nice! I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't read The Hitchhiker's Guide. They may take away my nerd-card for that...
I rode past the Elections Office driveway again today. Same signs there, but one had blown down. I taped it back up as best I could. There was a steady flow of cars in and out on this Saturday afternoon. Glad to see that. Haven't received my ballot yet, but did get a note that it has been mailed. Maryland sent mail-in ballot request forms (not ballots) to all registered voters and encouraged people to use them due to COVID. They're projecting 50% mail-in participation this year. 1.4 million voters have already requested ballots - 6 times the number in 2016, and the request deadline is still a week away.
I rode past the Elections Office driveway again today. Same signs there, but one had blown down. I taped it back up as best I could. There was a steady flow of cars in and out on this Saturday afternoon. Glad to see that. Haven't received my ballot yet, but did get a note that it has been mailed. Maryland sent mail-in ballot request forms (not ballots) to all registered voters and encouraged people to use them due to COVID. They're projecting 50% mail-in participation this year. 1.4 million voters have already requested ballots - 6 times the number in 2016, and the request deadline is still a week away.
Nov 1, 2020 8:38 PM
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Just got email notification that my ballot was accepted (counted). I was starting to worry, since I dropped it in the box almost 2 weeks ago. I did get a notice a few days after I dropped it off that it had been received.
Right pleased with the way Maryland is handling this election, with a decision to start counting early, lots of drop boxes with more added partway through, email and online status reports and actively encouraging mail-ins due to COVID. The handmade signs at the Board of Elections gave way to more official looking ones too.
Right pleased with the way Maryland is handling this election, with a decision to start counting early, lots of drop boxes with more added partway through, email and online status reports and actively encouraging mail-ins due to COVID. The handmade signs at the Board of Elections gave way to more official looking ones too.
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