Canvassing of ballots by the Montgomery County Board of Elections began Monday in Gaithersburg. The process involves officially reviewing, verifying and counting the votes.
Canvassers were told to make sure the ballots were properly numbered, signed and filled in correctly. The goal: to have correct ballots ready to be scanned into the system.
The canvassers, most who will serve as chief judges during early and Election Day voting, learned of their responsibilities in great detail as they worked in teams of one registered Democrat and either a registered Republican or an Independent voter.
Three weeks before the June 23 gubernatorial election, the only ballots received so far are from voters who emailed their ballot and nursing home residents, whose ballots were collected by the county.
The majority of canvassers have worked at the same position during the previous election in 2024.
County election board members were sworn in. Following that, Montgomery County Board of Elections President David Naimon, Vice President Daniel Koroma and Secretary Amie Hoeber were reelected to their positions.
The state’s printing error affecting about 500,000 voters statewide did not create a delay for the county, according to Gilberto Zelaya, the Board of Elections’ public relations officer.
“We are still within the calendar,” he told MCM. ” We are on schedule.”
More than 123,000 county residents requested mail-in ballots, Zelaya said.
The Board of Elections lists on its website how many ballots have been received and canvassed. But actual results will not be revealed until after the polls are closed on Election Day.
Canvassing continues on June 6.
“Today is just the beginning of canvassing. We are going to have multiple days for the next five weeks,” Naimon said.
Elections officials are urging mail-in voters to either deposit their individual ballots into any of the county’s 58 drop boxes or take it to the post office and make sure it is stamped with the day’s date.
🚨 ATTENTION MONTGOMERY!
📣 The pre-election canvass of Mail-In ballots for the 2026 Gubernatorial Primary Election starts at 10AM, Monday, June 1, 2026, at the @777Vote Training & Canvass Center. All canvass sessions are open to the public & will be livestreamed. pic.twitter.com/Wo4k584LsI— MontgomeryMDVotes (@777Vote) June 1, 2026
