Though an incident Thursday in Carroll County rankled him, Maryland’s elections administrator said the state has enough volunteers to run the election — and they will be kept safe.

“The locals have done an excellent job of recruiting,” Jared DeMarinis, Maryland’s elections administrator, told The Baltimore Sun in an interview Friday, despite data that has shown around half of local election officials are worried about their safety nationwide.

A May 2024 poll from the Brennan Center for Justice that surveyed 928 local election officials found that 38% have experienced threats, harassment or abuse. Over 50% are concerned for the safety of their colleagues and staff, and 28% are concerned for their loved ones.

The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Each of Maryland’s 24 local boards of elections recruit judges. While the need for the presidential election was met on Nov. 5, DeMarinis said they could always take additional volunteers.

“We can always use more. It’s a single day, Election Day, and people get sick, people have car accidents, family emergencies, so you always need to have a stable on-call for deployment,” he said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, I have 50 slots and all I need is 50 people.’”

But recruiting new judges has faced different hurdles than it did a decade ago.

On Oct. 29, Carroll County Election Director Erin Perrone was granted a peace order against Katherine Adelaide of the county’s Republican Central Committee, alleging that she was following her from an early voting center back to her office.

DeMarinis said there is “zero tolerance” for anyone who tries to interfere in an election or deter election judges from completing their mission, and that local elections administrators train their chief judges to be cautious.

“It was always there,” DeMarinis said of the threat certain election judges may experience. “We try to make sure we can de-escalate any situation, but they’re always aware there are extra protections for them now.”

Election judges serve for two-year terms. They are appointed 13 weeks before the primary election and serve through to the 13 weeks prior to the next primary election.

Election judges must be registered to vote in Maryland, and are compensated between $250 and $350 depending on their position. Information regarding these positions can be found on the State Board of Elections’ or local boards of elections’ websites.

Increased national tension

Election work has become more fraught in recent years as the United States continues to endure a widening political divide. In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, former President Donald Trump has leveled harsh criticism toward Vice President Kamala Harris, who has agreed with claims from voters that he is a fascist.

Flavio Hickel Jr., an assistant professor of political science at Washington College, said that threats and violence toward election judges have likely gone up because people perceive the consequence of this election to be particularly high.

“Polarization is amped up, and there’s always some very small percentage of people who are willing to engage in unconscionable political behavior … and as polarization increases” that percentage will grow, he said. “It probably says something that Maryland is not escaping it.”

During the 2024 legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill making it a crime to threaten or harm an elections official, including election judges, or their family members because of their role in administering the election process.

Anyone found guilty of this misdemeanor is subject to up to a $2,500 fine or three years in prison.

In written testimony to the legislature, John Michael Gudger of the Maryland Association of Elections Officials called the bill “a necessary step in safeguarding our election officials and their families.”

“It provides much-needed legal protections and underscores our collective commitment to maintaining the integrity of our elections,” he wrote. “As representatives of the Local Board of Elections, we witness firsthand the dedication of our officials and the challenges they face.”

The bill was considered emergency legislation and went into effect when Gov. Wes Moore signed it on April 9.

Election workers essential

Joanne Antoine, the executive director of Common Cause Maryland, said that passing the bill was a “critical” reassurance for both election judges and administrators.

“We view election judges as essential workers in our democracy,” she said. “Folks are voting in person. They are the ones who are there to assist voters the entire time.”

Antoine pointed to the bill’s enactment as a possible reason that there is no shortage of election judges this year.

“I think a lot of that has to do, one: with the excitement of the election, but two: with the knowledge that bad actors will be held accountable,” she said. To date, the 2024 general election has gone smoothly in the state.

Early in-person voting ended Thursday, with 994,663 Marylanders casting their ballots at early voting centers statewide. More than 316,000 have returned their mail-in ballots.

“About 38% of Marylanders have voted so far,” said DeMarinis. “Looking for the next 62%.”

Have a tip? Politics editor Candy Woodall can be reached at cwoodall@baltsun.com, 443-571-1113 and on X as @candynotcandace.