The ballots were found Thursday during a "precertification audit," McLaughlin wrote. “Today, we pulled our random sample of empty provisional ballot envelopes for audit and were unable to locate one of the randomly selected envelopes where it should have been," she explained. "In addition, we were unable to resolve a discrepancy between the number of provisional ballots that our staff had recommended that the Board accept, and the number of ballots scanned. Together, these two pieces of information prompted a visual search of folders where provisional ballots had been stored prior to the canvass. Those folders contained 102 unopened, sealed ballot envelopes that were never removed from their folders and presented to the canvass from the following precincts:
• Precinct 06-10 – 1 ballot
• Precinct 06-11 – 1 ballot
• Precinct 06-13 – 14 ballots
• Precinct 06-14 – 7 ballots
• Precinct 06-15 – 15 ballots
• Precinct 13-56 – 12 ballots
• Precinct 13-57 – 10 ballots
• Precinct 13-58 – 30 ballots
• Precinct 13-59 – 12 ballots
Intriguingly, McLaughlin personally apologized in the statement for not locating the missing ballots until yesterday, thereby delaying a certification of the results. The delayed certification has all kinds of implications for the photo finish of Democrats David Blair and Marc Elrich in the County Executive race. Elrich declared victory in the race last week. But if the 102 ballots found yesterday were to split Blair's way, that could flip the current results and Elrich would then have the option to ask for a recount. If Elrich retains his lead after the 102 new ballots are tallied, the recount Blair has said he will request following certification will be further delayed.
"I want to emphasize that Maryland’s comprehensive precertification audit was designed to identify issues like this before an election is certified to ensure theaccuracy of the results," McLaughlin wrote. "It worked as intended.”
“I will finish reviewing the rest of the audit to ensure that there are no further discrepancies before I ask the Board of Elections to certify the results of the election. The Board will meet at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, August 12, and we will discuss the findings of our audit and the schedule for canvass and certification.”
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| Hogan joined Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) at the Iowa State Fair |
Photos via @LarryHogan on Twitter
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Pence and Hogan are both exploring runs for the White House in 2024, and positioning themselves as alternatives to Trump. But both men appeared to be competing for media attention yesterday with another potential 2024 rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had issued a far more muscular criticism of the raid on Twitter a day earlier.
"Even before yesterday’s events at Mar-a-Lago, America was already dangerously divided," Hogan said in his statement. “These are unprecedented circumstances that require unprecedented transparency and accountability from our government institutions. The American people deserve to know all the facts as soon as possible, and I call on the Biden administration to release—at a minimum—the documents authorizing the FBI search."
“If the federal government cannot ultimately provide overwhelming evidence that action was absolutely necessary, then it will only undermine faith in democracy and the rule of law, and further divide Americans.”
