Montgomery County approves new policy for fixing mail ballot errors

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Montgomery County’s Board of Elections approved an automatic ballot-curing policy this week to ensure voters who make a mistake on their mail ballot can quickly and easily fix it.

A ballot needs to be cured, or corrected, if a voter’s signature is in the wrong place, or if the designated secrecy envelope is not included, among other reasons.

Under the new policy, the county will automatically mail a replacement ballot to voters who submit a defective mail ballot.

The county currently publishes a public ballot deficiency list identifying voters who have submitted a defective mail ballot. It also notifies those voters directly by phone, email or letter, and uses the Department of State ballot tracking system, which automatically emails voters about problems with their mail ballots.

Now, instead of requiring voters to submit a cancel-and-replace form to receive a new ballot by mail, the county will automatically mail a replacement ballot to the voter’s address.

“It’s our responsibility to make voting accessible and fair, and eligible voters should never be disenfranchised because of a correctable mistake on their ballot,” Neil Makhija, commissioner and chair of the county Board of Elections, said in a statement. “This is another step the County is taking towards protecting voter rights and making the process work better for our residents.”

The county received more than 1,100 deficient mail ballots in 2024, nearly 44% of which were not counted because the voter failed to resolve the issue.

Commissioner Jamila Winder, vice chair of the Board of Elections, said many of the errors made on mail ballots “are simple mistakes that anyone could make.”

“If someone misses a signature or forgets a step, they shouldn’t be excluded from the democratic process,” she said in a statement. “A healthy democracy should make it easy to participate, so every eligible voter should have a fair chance to correct their ballot and have it counted.”

More information on the general elections is available at the county’s voter services website.