Scope: This guide covers the board’s standard mail-in voting options, including ballots delivered by mail, fax or an emailed link. Military and overseas voters are directed to separate official instructions from the board’s mail-in voting page.
What does the October 27 deadline cover?
It is the request deadline for voters who want their ballot delivered by mail or fax for the November 3 general election. The state’s election page says the request must reach the election board by the applicable deadline; mailing a request that day is not the same as having it received.
Official sources: Board’s September 9 election notice · Current 2026 election guidance
Which clock times does the calendar give?
For this delivery option, the state calendar lists October 27 at 8 p.m. for requests by mail and 11:59 p.m. for requests by fax or email. The reviewed web guidance also permits online requests, but does not state an online cutoff hour in its text. The calendar does not name a time zone, so these are the issuer’s clock times without a UTC conversion.
Official sources: State’s 2026 election calendar · Current mail-in voting instructions
Who can request a ballot, and how?
Any registered voter can choose mail-in voting without giving a reason, the board says. Its online request option requires a Maryland driver’s license or MVA-issued identification card. Alternatively, voters can sign the state’s request form and send it to their local election board by mail, fax, hand delivery or an email containing an image of the signed request.
Official sources: Current mail-in voting instructions
Is submitting a request the same as receiving a ballot?
No: the board says processing may take approximately a week, rather than promising immediate delivery. Its voter-lookup service lets voters check whether the request reached their local board and review their ballot’s status. The board advises contacting the local election office if the election is a week away and the ballot has not arrived.
Official sources: Current mail-in voting instructions
Can a completed ballot be returned electronically?
No. The board’s instructions require a properly addressed envelope returned through the mail, a ballot drop box or hand delivery. Sending a signed request by email or fax is different from returning a voted ballot: the latter cannot be submitted online, by email or by fax.
Official sources: Current mail-in voting instructions
How long do voters have to send back a completed ballot?
The board specifies a November 3 postmark for mailed ballots and an 8 p.m. November 3 cutoff for drop-box or hand-delivered returns. Its election calendar separately lists November 13 at 10 a.m. for election boards to receive ballots sent by mail, subject to the proper-postmark or voter-oath-date condition stated there. That later receipt date is not extra time to cast a ballot. The board warns that an Election Day trip to a mailbox is not proof of an Election Day postmark.
Official sources: Board’s September 9 election notice · Current mail-in voting instructions · Current 2026 election guidance · State’s 2026 election calendar
What does the newer notice say about print-at-home requests?
The board’s October 14 notice gives October 30 for online requests for a ballot sent by email, agreeing with its current mail-in instructions and 2026 election page. Its September 9 notice listed October 29; this guide uses the newer instruction without claiming that officials announced an extension. Voters using the emailed link must print their ballot and oath and return the completed documents physically, not by email. The newer notice does not give an online cutoff hour.
Official sources: Board’s October 14 mail-ballot deadline notice · Board’s September 9 election notice · Current mail-in voting instructions · Current 2026 election guidance · State’s 2026 election calendar