A handful of Maryland voters showed up to cast their primary ballots and instead got an unexpected question from the machine: pick Democratic or Republican. Election officials say the on‑screen party prompt was the result of poll‑worker procedure slipping out of gear and that only a very small number of voters ever saw it.
As reported by WBAL‑TV, as many as seven voters across Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Kent County, and Baltimore City encountered the party‑choice screen. Terwana Brown of Worton told the station that when she and her husband inserted their voter cards, the machine asked them to choose a party. Brown selected the correct party and went on to cast her ballot, according to WBAL.
How the Machines Are Supposed to Work
Maryland runs a closed primary system, which means voters generally must already be registered with a party in order to receive that party’s ballot. According to the Maryland State Board of Elections, anyone who wants to switch party affiliation has to do it before the election, not in the voting booth. Changing party registration at the polling place on Election Day is not allowed.
Officials Point to Poll‑Worker Steps Skipped
State and county election officials told WBAL‑TV the errant prompt appeared when election judges did not follow the full check‑in routine. Poll workers are supposed to load the voter’s party, as listed on the registration record, into the machine before the voter steps up. When that step was skipped, the machine defaulted to asking the voter to pick a party instead of automatically presenting the correct, preselected ballot.
Context: Other Recent Election Errors
The incident landed at an awkward time for Maryland’s election officials, who were already under extra scrutiny after a mail‑in ballot mix‑up earlier in the cycle. As a ballot blunder that shook Maryland detailed, a vendor error that mismatched ballot styles forced the State Board to resend packets and left some voters uneasy as the primaries approached.
What Voters Can Do
Officials say this latest episode appears to be human error, not a mechanical glitch, and that they are reviewing poll‑worker training and check‑in procedures to keep it from happening again. Voters who run into an unexpected party screen, receive the wrong ballot, or have other concerns are advised to verify their registration and contact their county board of elections or use the State Board’s voter resources page for guidance, in line with Maryland State Board of Elections recommendations.
