Election Day FAQs
What happens when I arrive at my polling place on Election Day?
- You can bring one or two children under 18 years old with you to vote. Under Maryland law, the children can accompany you as long as they do not disrupt or interfere with normal voting procedures. (Election Law Article, sec. 10-308, Annotated Code of Maryland).
- You cannot use your cell phone, pager, camera, and computer equipment in an early voting center or at a polling place.
- You can bring any printed material - including your marked sample ballot - to help you vote.
- Some first time voters in Maryland will be asked to show ID before voting. If you are asked to show ID, please show an election judge one of the following forms of ID:
- 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); or
- A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows your name and address. Current means that the document is dated within 3 months of the election.
- When you go vote, you can wear clothing, buttons or stickers with political messages, but you must leave the early voting center or polling place immediately after voting.
- In a general election, you can write-in the name of a candidate, but in a primary election, you cannot. Instructions on how to cast a write-in vote and a listing of the filed write-in candidates will be posted at the early voting centers and at your polling place on Election Day.
- If your employer asks for proof that you voted, ask an election judge for a Certificate of Participation.