Election Results: Biden Wins MD, Congressmen Keep Seats

Elizabeth Janney
Updated ·6 min read
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MARYLAND — A clear winner in the presidential election is undetermined Wednesday morning as votes continue to be tallied nationwide.

The Associated Press projected Democratic candidate Joe Biden the winner of Maryland for the presidential race, but that is not an official call by state election officials. Meanwhile the presidency hinges on key battleground states, the AP reported Wednesday.

Related: Presidential Election Results: Trump Vs. Biden Electoral Count

For local races, the Maryland State Board of Elections reported Wednesday morning that several jurisdictions in the state were reporting incomplete results from Election Day.

Technical difficulties arose in uploading voting data from ballot scanners to thumb drives, according to Maryland State Board of Elections Deputy Administrator Nikki Charlson.

It could take eight to 10 minutes for data from each thumb drive with results from ballot scanners to transfer for each precinct, officials said.

For jurisdictions with the most thumb drives, “It was clear that they would not finish last night," Charlson said Wednesday.

"When we are on a precinct-based system, we didn't have this problem," she noted.

To streamline operations due to the coronavirus, the state consolidated polling places into voting centers that covered multiple precincts. This made confirming the data from various precincts using the thumb drive system more complicated.

So far, here are the projected winners in Maryland's general election:

All results above are unofficial.

For the latest unofficial local election results in Maryland, get free Patch news alerts.

State election officials anticipated releasing three sets of results on election night, since Maryland was the first state in the country to begin the canvassing process. It started Oct. 1.

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, and everyone in line at that time was given the chance to vote.

“Election officials across the state are prepared to keep vote centers open as long as it takes for voters who were in line by 8 p.m. to cast their ballots," Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator Linda Lamone said in a statement.

As of 10 p.m., election officials said Calvert County voters were still waiting to cast their ballots. By that point, Maryland had seen 475,249 voters turn out on Election Day, with more to be added to the count.

Once all voters in line cast their ballots, the Maryland State Board of Elections began reporting results on its website.

Mailed ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and will be received until Nov. 13, so it will be at least 10 days before the final results are tabulated in Maryland.

Races To Watch

Eight congressional seats were up for grabs in Maryland, in Districts 1 through 8, and all were expected to be claimed by the incumbents.

Congressman Kweisi Mfume, who filled the District 7 post by special election after the death of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, again faced off against challenger Kim Klacik, who was aiming for a Republican upset. District 7 — which includes parts of Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County — has never been represented by a Republican, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Baltimore will also select a new mayor, after Mayor Bernard "Jack" Young lost the Democratic nomination to Council President Brandon Scott in the primary. He took on Pastor Shannon Wright, David Harding and entrepreneur Bob Wallace in the race to lead Charm City. Scott, 36, is expected to become the city's youngest mayor, after gaining more than 70 percent of the votes, with 57 percent of Election Day results reported.

Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's county voters selected school board members and other local officials.

In addition to any local issues brought to referendum, Maryland voters had the opportunity to weigh in on two statewide ballot questions.

One would give the Maryland General Assembly the authority to reallocate budget items after the governor approves the budget. The other would allow for an expansion of commercial gaming to allow sports betting.

Voters appeared to have voted in support of both.

Results To Be Released In Waves

After polls closed and everyone in line had voted, the Maryland State Board of Elections planned to release three sets of results, all of which are unofficial: early voting results, mail-in ballots that were already counted and ballots cast on Election Day.

"While media outlets may ‘call’ the election on election night, that determination is not based on an official count of ballots received," according to Lamone, administrator of the state's board of elections.

“Marylanders should be assured that, if a ballot was properly completed and submitted by the deadline, it will be counted in the election’s official results," Lamone said in a statement. "Due to the nature of this election, counting will continue for some time after Election Day."

Officials said it was too early to know how many ballots would need to be counted and when the final count would be available.

Voting 'Steady' During Unusual Election Day

Before 9 p.m., state elections officials said 473,069 Marylanders voted Tuesday.

Wait times were more than an hour at some voting centers Tuesday night, Maryland election authorities said.

Among those with long lines were sites in Calvert County, where residents reported waiting two to three hours to vote.

Multiple Baltimore City polling places — including Cross Country at Northwestern School, Edmondson High School, Southeast Anchor Library and Camden Yards — also had lines longer than an hour, officials reported after 6 p.m.

Voting was "steady throughout the day," Maryland State Board of Elections Deputy Administrator Nikki Charlson reported Tuesday afternoon, before the evening rush.

Officials said the election was unusual, since the state encouraged mail-in voting and early voting due to the coronavirus.

"Over half of our voters have already voted, and that's not usually the case," Charlson said at a news briefing Tuesday. "Usually we're looking at 60 percent of our voters voting on Election Day."

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This article originally appeared on the Baltimore Patch