Frederick County's election was recertified after the ballots were recounted and rescanned

After taking the uncommon step of decertifying the results of the July primary election, the Frederick County Board of Elections completed the process of rescanning over 16,000 ballots on Wednesday and the election has been recertified.

The discovery of a discrepancy of about 100 ballots between the total scanned and the ballots on hand while preparing for County Council District 3 Democratic primary race led the board to unanimously vote on Wednesday morning to decertify the primary election, in what a state Board of Elections official called an “infrequent occurrence.”

After the board’s decertification decision, 16 individuals, working in pairs and representing both political parties, hand-counted batches of mail-in ballots before officials carried them to 12 identical scanning devices, leased from the state.

Previously:Frederick County to decertify election, rescan ballots critical to local office

About a dozen people, including at least four members of the press, looked on from the outskirts of the tightly packed room in the Frederick County Board of Elections’ office as ballots were shuttled between the bins, tables and scanners.

“It really is democracy in action,” said Tom Slater, an onlooker, Frederick attorney and one of 13 candidates on the ballot for the county’s Democratic Central Committee.

Number of mail-in ballots didn't match electronic records

There was a seriousness to the proceedings as the officials conducted their work, interspersed with occasional public announcements and explanations, chiefly led by Election Director Barbara Wagner. Prior to the decertification vote by the board, Wagner said new processes would be developed to make sure decertification doesn’t happen again.

Also on-site was Howard County Election Director Guy Mickley with a team working alongside those from Frederick County. Mickley stood at one of the 12 machines, scanning ballots from the District 3 Democratic Primary.

“There’s literally not a more monotonous task than this,” the elections veteran of over 25 years said, inserting ballots into the scanner.

Except counting the ballots by hand, an observer nearby quipped.

Slater, whose election was guaranteed as fewer candidates were on the ballot than the 14 available spots, had ideas of who else should be in the room watching the democratic, oft tedious, process play out.

“Every election denier should be required to spend a day watching this,” he said. “They would understand that (elections) are fair, honest. The best thing about our system is elections are conducted locally.”

Frederick County Del. Dan Cox, the Republican nominee for governor, said as recently as last month that the 2020 election was “stolen.” That claim has not been backed up by the courts.

Pointing to the humdrum of counting ballots, passed and scanned by both Frederick County officials and their Howard County counterparts who were called into assist, Slater said a similar scene is duplicated all across the country. A conspiracy, he said, would require thousands of people.

In Frederick County, the discovery this month of a mismatch of the electronic, or scanned, ballot totals and the ballots on hand showed a 96-ballot difference between the electronic records and physical mail-in ballots. That led county elections officials to conclude some ballots had been scanned twice due to human error.

This discrepancy lead officials to request the decertification out of “an abundance of caution,” Monday’s public notice said. All of the more than 15,000 mail-in ballots were recounted and rescanned, as were the roughly 1,000 provisional ballots.

With current Frederick County Council President M.C. Keegan-Ayer trailing political newcomer Jazmin Di Cola by three votes in the County Council District 3 Democratic primary before the rescan, each vote was critical. After the rescan, Di Cola still won, but now by one vote.

Monday’s public notice indicated a recount may be requested after the rescanning and re-certification of the election.

Totals of the initial difference between the electronic record of ballots and ballots on hand were written on the white board in the front of the room on Wednesday morning.

A report published online Wednesday evening showed the mail-in ballot totals now matched with the number of ballots on hand.

More:Parrott gets rematch in Maryland's 6th Congressional District after primary win

Frederick County is a critical jurisdiction in the November general election contest for the 6th Congressional District seat between incumbent Democratic Rep. David Trone and Republican challenger, state Del. Neil Parrott, of Washington County. In the November election, all of Frederick County is included in the district whereas the map used during the previous decade split the county into two different congressional districts.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Frederick County Board of Elections recertifies election