--- title: Why Maryland's Primary Could Fuel Bogus Voter Fraud Claims description: The state won't count mailed-in ballots until Thursday. That could needlessly fuel conspiracy theories. canonical: https://time.com/6197815/maryland-primary-bogus-voter-fraud-claims/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-07-18T09:00:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:30:31.216Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why Maryland's Primary Could Fuel Bogus Voter Fraud Claims og:description: The state won't count mailed-in ballots until Thursday. That could needlessly fuel conspiracy theories. og:url: https://time.com/6197815/maryland-primary-bogus-voter-fraud-claims/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38ff51f9311f9cee/698a33c6096a944ffb6acc69/GettyImages-1407345645.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Candidates Campaign Near Polling Places As Early Voting Begins In Maryland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Maryland's Primary Could Fuel Bogus Voter Fraud Claims twitter:description: The state won't count mailed-in ballots until Thursday. That could needlessly fuel conspiracy theories. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt38ff51f9311f9cee/698a33c6096a944ffb6acc69/GettyImages-1407345645.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Maryland's Primary Could Fuel Bogus Voter Fraud Claims. It Didn't Have to Be That Way > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jul 18, 2022 9:00 AM UTC  Campaign volunteers wait outside the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza during the first day of early voting on July 07, 2022 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Election Day is July 19. Campaign volunteers wait outside the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza during the first day of early voting on July 07, 2022 in Silver Spring, Maryland. Election Day is July 19. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jul 18, 2022 9:00 AM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ Election Day is Tuesday in Maryland’s [primaries](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/12/maryland-election-governor-questions/). Under a [quirk](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/12/maryland-primary-results-may-be-delayed-mail-in-votes-are-counted/) in Maryland law that makes it unique among all other states, election officials aren’t allowed to even start counting mailed-in absentee ballots until Thursday. Buckle in for an election count that in all likelihood could stretch into the weekend—and for little good reason. With roughly a half-million mail-in ballots [requested](https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-mail-ballots-primary-2022-20220714-r6qgexvjxzfixhnjyaehsoyd3i-story.html), the lag between Election Day and when we’ll know which candidates won their party’s nomination could be a long one. It also has all of the makings for adherents of any Big Lie to find perceived evidence of voting fraud. Just two years ago, then-President Donald Trump [used](https://time.com/6187273/jan-6-hearing-mail-voting-trump/) such a gap—during which his day-of-voting margins [shrunk as mail-in votes were counted](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/04/whats-behind-trumps-leads-in-michigan-and-pennsylvania-.html)—to fuel his bogus claims that Democrats were stuffing the ballot boxes as they counted in the days that followed. In other words, there’s a [ticking](https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/md-lawmaker-urges-governor-hogan-to-declare-state-of-emergency-for-elections/65-c37c156b-c370-4ee8-8def-740f4c74544b) bomb for democracy’s credibility just outside of D.C., and no one is defusing it. Maryland officials know the problem. During the height of the pandemic, Gov. Larry Hogan issued an emergency [order](https://www.wbaltv.com/article/governor-larry-hogan-directs-enhanced-voting-options-november-general-election/33248715) that allowed votes to be tallied before Election Day because requests for at-home ballots surged. That order has since expired, and Hogan [vetoed](https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/larry-hogan-vetoes-18-bills-including-ballot-signature-measure/65-ad273cc9-8fad-4fde-8c70-19dca20e631f) a measure in April that would have allowed it to continue; the term-limited Governor argued that the broader bill lacked election security measures that he demanded, such as signature matches. In other words, Hogan didn’t get everything he wanted, so no one got anything. It was a game of chicken, and voters lost. And it’s not like it’s a quiet ballot this cycle. Because of term limits and incumbents’ ambitions, voters in both parties will have a blank slate for nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller, and state attorney general. National groups have been playing in the primaries, with the Democratic Governors Association [working](https://www.wsj.com/articles/democratic-spending-boosts-conservative-candidate-in-maryland-governors-race-11657884600?mod=hp%5Flistb%5Fpos1) to [boost](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/maryland-latest-test-dem-efforts-sway-gop-primaries/story?id=86617925) the chances for a Republican candidate its strategists believe is too extreme to prevail. (The DGA’s prefered candidate [led](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/maryland-were-almost-finish-line-dont-forget-vote/) two buses to Washington on Jan. 6 but says his crew did not join the riot at the Capitol.) And the picks in the highly educated D.C. ‘burbs may give national party leaders a hint as to just where both parties are centering their identity. Political trickery aside, the Maryland primary on Tuesday is just the latest reminder that the stakes of elections matter well beyond political chit trading. The individuals in power have actively decided that they are fine with the public’s faith in elections being further eroded. It’s a choice that needlessly gives democracy’s doubters an opening, the kind of short-sighted screw-up that helps radicalize skeptics into insurrectionists. Democracy only works when there is widespread participation and confidence that the system has legitimacy. When that falters, so too does the potency of the experiment. It’s not limited to either party, either. Both George W. Bush and Joe Biden faced [protests](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/spc/inauguration/inauguration%5Fday.html) over their [elections](https://whdh.com/news/biden-is-not-my-president-mass-trump-supporter-wins-free-speech-battle-amid-outrage-over-lawn-sign/), and the rancor did little to help the comity from Washington to Wasilla. All of which is to say this: Tuesday’s voting in D.C.’s literal backyard should have been a moment for both parties to flex their muscles of democracy, to celebrate another exercise of the American experiment from the rural western stretch of the state all the way into the Washington suburbs. Instead, it’s another example of what happens when policymakers know they have a problem afoot and elect instead to hold hostage a fix in pursuit of a plussed-up answer. It’s a familiar play, even if it’s one that seems reckless from the outside. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6197815/maryland-primary-bogus-voter-fraud-claims/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6197815/maryland-primary-bogus-voter-fraud-claims/"},"headline":"Maryland's Primary Could Fuel Bogus Voter Fraud Claims. It Didn't Have to Be That Way","datePublished":"2022-07-18T09:00:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:30:31.216Z","description":"The state won't count mailed-in ballots until Thursday. That could needlessly fuel conspiracy theories.","url":"https://time.com/6197815/maryland-primary-bogus-voter-fraud-claims/","keywords":["The D.C. 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