Baltimore County election officials resumed counting mail-in ballots Thursday morning at the Board of Elections headquarters in Owings Mills, with three County Council races still too close to call.
The day began with more than 49,000 mail-in ballots waiting to be counted, along with three contested Council races in districts five, eight, and nine hanging in the balance.
“It is stressful. I am behind right now, but there are a lot of mail-in ballots that need to be counted, and so that’s why I’m here,” said Arkia Wade, a Democratic candidate for Council District-5.
Currently, all three Republican candidates are ahead of their Democratic opponents in the contested districts.
“I have asked a lot of people to send in mail-in ballots. Not all those ballots have been counted, especially if they printed them from home,” said Sharonda Dillard-Huffman, a Democratic candidate for Council District-8.
Baltimore County Elections Director Ruie Lavoie said the outstanding mail-in and provisional ballots could still change the current standings.
“There are three races that are very close, and the mail-in ballot and provisional could switch the who’s who’s on top,” Lavoie said.
Candidates, campaign staffers, and party officials closely monitored the process, with some observing in person and others watching a multi-camera livestream online.
“I am here for the MDGOP to just look at candidate counts. They come in regularly, so it’s nice to be able to just track how the mail-ins are coming in and see that the process is being done properly,” said Kate Sullivan, a Maryland Republican Party observer.
Election officials plan to continue canvassing mail-in ballots Friday and through the weekend to meet the goal of certifying results by Nov. 13.
READ MORE:Three Baltimore County Council races still too close to call
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