‘Significant’ U.S. mail issues affecting Annapolis primary, officials say

Sep

2025

Capital Gazette

‘Significant’ U.S. mail issues affecting Annapolis primary, officials say

The Anne Arundel County Board of Elections has notified Annapolis city officials of 'significant' issues with the U.S. Postal Service that are affecting mail-in ballots in the city's primary Tuesday.

The mail delays have led to issues returning mail-in ballot request forms to voters, “extreme” delays delivering mail-in ballot request forms to the board of elections and delays in delivering mail-in ballots to voters, according to a city news release issued Wednesday.

The city is urging voters who received a mail-in ballot to drop their ballots at an official drop box available at each polling location until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Voters who have not received their requested mail-in ballot should vote in-person on Election Day, the news release said, and they may be asked to fill out provisional ballots.

In a message shared with primary election candidates by the Annapolis city clerk, the director of the county’s Board of Elections, David Garreis, cited “issues with mail transfers between the Baltimore sorting facility and the Annapolis Post Office.”

The county received no mail from the city from Aug. 14 until Monday, Garreis said. Some of the 800 pieces of mail received Monday, including ballots and applications, were postmarked as early as Aug. 4, with most being postmarked by Aug. 18, Garreis wrote. The county did receive all mail placed in voter drop boxes during this time, Garreis confirmed to the Capital Gazette.

The county board of elections, Garreis wrote, attempted to figure out what was slowing down the mail, even offering to pick up the mail from the Baltimore holding location.

While Garreis wrote that the post office claimed the delay was due to a “postal account funding problem,” he said the city has a receipt from Aug. 22 replenishing the account and some of the mail held used first-class postage stamps, which do not require postage account funds.

“A continuation of these problems would be highly concerning for November,” Garreis wrote, alluding to the potential impact on the general election that month.

All voters whose mail-in ballot request forms had reached the county by Wednesday were to be contacted by the close of business Wednesday to confirm that their ballots had been mailed, a later message from Garreis to the city shared to the candidates said.

Garreis wrote to candidates that the board wants to schedule a meeting after the primary with Annapolis U.S. Postal Service and the city about these issues and how to improve ahead of the November election.

A representative of the U.S. Postal Service did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment from the Capital Gazette.

Source: https://www.capitalgazette.com/2025/09/10/annapolis-mail-ballots-primary/