Vote in
Maryland
Pick a different stateRegister by October 13
The deadline has passed. You can also register to vote during early voting or on election day. Go to an early voting center in the county where you live during early voting, or go to your assigned election day polling place, and bring a document that proves where you live.
Facts · Read Oct 26Check you are registered. If you are not, do it now.
Go to Maryland registration →Vote early October 22 to October 29
Early voting has ended.
Early voting centers are open 7:00 am until 8:00 pm each day, including Saturday and Sunday. You may vote early at any early voting center in your county of residence.
Pick your day
Early voting is the real date. Same ballot, shorter line, and if something is wrong with your registration you still have days to fix it.
Facts · Read Oct 26Election Day, November 3. Last resort.
Where to vote
Find your polling placeThe state calls this "Find My Polling Place". Election Day voting is at your assigned polling place.Read October 26, 2026 from Maryland State Board of Elections.
Registered at home but living somewhere else?What Maryland says to do when the address you are registered at is not the address you live at.
We have not confirmed Maryland’s rule for this from an official source yet, so we are not printing one. Check which address you are registered at, then ask that county election office what to do.
All the datesRegistering online, by mail and in person, checking your registration, your polling place, and when polls close in Maryland.
Register by
The advance registration deadline is 5 pm on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. After that, Maryland still registers voters in person during early voting and on Election Day with a document that proves where you live.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register online
The advance registration deadline is 5 pm on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register by mail
A mailed application received after the October 13 close of registration still counts if it is properly postmarked. The extended receipt deadline is 8 pm on Election Day.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register in person
Before the October 13 close of registration you can register in person at your local board of elections or the State Board of Elections. After that, register in person at an early voting center or, on Election Day, at your assigned polling place, with a document that proves where you live.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register and vote the same day
Proof of residence can be your MVA-issued license, permit or ID card, a change of address card, your paycheck, a bank statement, a utility bill, or another government document with your name and address.
Facts · Read Oct 26Early, in person
Early voting centers are open 7:00 am until 8:00 pm each day, including Saturday and Sunday. You may vote early at any early voting center in your county of residence.
Facts · Read Oct 26Weekends
Find your polling place
The state calls this "Find My Polling Place". Election Day voting is at your assigned polling place.
Facts · Read Oct 26Polls close
Election Day polling places are open 7:00 am until 8:00 pm statewide.
Facts · Read Oct 26What to bringThe ID Maryland accepts, and what to do if you do not have one.
ID your state accepts
- Some first time voters in Maryland will be asked to show ID before voting
- A copy of a current and valid photo ID (i.e., Maryland driver's license, MVA ID card, student, employee, or military ID card, U.S. passport, or any other State or federal government-issued ID card)
- A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows your name and address
Most Maryland voters are not asked for ID. Current means the document is dated within 3 months of the election. Use the voter services site to see if you have to show ID before voting.
Facts · Read Oct 26If you do not have one
Carry a second document
Checking. We are still checking this with the state. Ask your state election office.
Make the plan
Three taps. No account. It stays on this phone.
Roll Call
Lock your date, bring your people, and see how your side is doing.
Who runs your election
The Maryland State Board of Elections administers elections in Maryland. Your county or parish election office runs the polling places, counts the ballots, and answers questions about your own ballot. They are the people to call, and the ones whose answer is final.
Statewide offices are the ones every voter in Maryland votes on, and every ballot counts the same from any precinct in the state. District seats are drawn on a map, so where you live decides which of those you vote on.
Some years a ballot also asks voters to change the rules of voting itself. Those questions tend to cover:
- what counts as ID at the polls or with a mail ballot
- how early voting and mail voting work, and by when
- how districts get drawn and who draws them
- how the election office itself is run and funded
We do not tell you what is on your ballot or what to make of it. Your sample ballot carries the official wording, written by the state. Read it at the Maryland State Board of Elections.
Mail, honestlyVoting by mail works. It also has rules, and the rules are where ballots get lost.
Your dates are above: when to ask for the ballot, when it has to be back, what happens if a signature is questioned.
- Sign exactly the way you signed when you registered.
- Send it back early, not on the last day.
- Would rather not trust the mail? Check the early in-person window above and go in person.
Who can vote by mail
Any registered voter may vote by mail-in ballot. You don't need a reason to vote by mail-in ballot.
Facts · Read Oct 26Ask for your ballot by
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, received, if you want your ballot mailed to you. Friday, October 30, 2026 if you want to download and print your ballot. In person at your local board of elections, the deadline is 8:00 pm on Election Day.
Facts · Read Oct 26It has to be back by
Postmarked or placed in a ballot drop box by 8:00 pm on Election Day, November 3, 2026. A mail-in ballot can also be taken to a polling place, an early voting center, or your local board by 8:00 pm. Putting your ballot in a mailbox on Election Day does not mean it is postmarked that day, so mail it earlier.
Facts · Read Oct 26Where to drop it off
The state posts a list of 2026 general election drop box locations as a PDF on this page.
Facts · Read Oct 26If your signature is questioned
Checking. Maryland describes the signature and oath requirements for mail-in voting, but its state pages do not spell out a cure process for a rejected mail-in ballot, so we are confirming with the state before we print one. Ask your state election office.
The lineIf the line is long, that is not a reason to leave. It is a reason to stay.
Bring water. Bring a charger. Bring a chair if you can carry one, a book, and a friend. Check your bag rules with your county first. If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line: your state decides what happens next, and every state page here prints its own rule in its own words.
- Water
- A charger
- A chair if you can
- Something to read
- A friend
If you are in line when polls close in Maryland
This applies during early voting and on Election Day. Get in line before 8 pm and stay in it.
Facts · Read Oct 26Time off to vote
If your employer asks for proof that you voted, ask an election judge for a Certificate of Participation.
Facts · Read Oct 26Your rightsA provisional ballot, help if you need it, and the number to call from the line.
You can vote a provisional ballot
If your name is not on the list, or you do not have what they ask for, ask for a provisional ballot. In a federal election you have the right to cast one. Ask what you must do afterwards for it to count, and write it down.
You can bring someone to help
You can bring a person of your choice to help you vote, with limits your state sets on who it cannot be. Ask the poll worker for the rule in writing.
Language and disability assistance
Polling places must be accessible, and many places must provide help in other languages. Ask for the accessible machine, the curbside option, or the language help you need.
If someone tries to move you off your vote
Questions about your citizenship, a crowd following you in, someone filming you at the door, a person telling you that you cannot vote: none of that decides your vote. Do not leave the line. Call the hotline from where you stand.
Sources: the Maryland State Board of Elections, and the Election Protection coalition for the hotlines below.
Call from the line
If anyone tells you that you cannot vote, or you are turned away, or something feels wrong: do not leave. Call.
- 866-OUR-VOTE866-687-8683 · English
- 888-VE-Y-VOTA888-839-8682 · Spanish and English
- 888-API-VOTE888-274-8683 · Asian languages and English
- 844-YALLA-US844-925-5287 · Arabic and English
Election Protection, administered by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Numbers confirmed against their own site on September 19, 2026.
Your state election office is the final word. We print what its own pages say, with the date we read them.
Read on October 26, 2026 from your state election office, checked by AI against the Maryland State Board of Elections pages. Maryland State Board of Elections is the final word. See something wrong? Report it.