Maryland voters will head to the polls in less than two months for the Nov. 5 general election headlined by key races at the state and national levels.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will face off in the 2024 presidential race. At the state level, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.) are vying for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat. Marylanders will also vote on a referendum that would amend the state’s constitution to secure the right to abortion and access to birth control.
Here’s a guide on how University of Maryland students can vote in November’s elections.
Determining your residency
Out-of-state students at this university can either register to vote in Maryland as a temporary resident or vote in their home state. Out-of-state students who want to vote in their home state can request an absentee ballot from their state’s election office.
In-state students who are already registered to vote in Maryland through their home address can also update their registration to use their College Park address by completing the form here.
Registering to vote
To register to vote online, voters must complete a form on the Maryland elections board website by Oct. 15 at 11:59 p.m. Voters can also mail a completed registration form, which must be postmarked by Oct. 15 at 5 p.m.
You can also register to vote in person at any early voting center from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31. The closest early voting center to the university is the College Park Community Center, located at 5051 Pierce Ave. A complete list of early voting centers can be found here.
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Maryland voters can also register at polling locations across the state on election day.
You can check your voter registration status by visiting the Maryland elections board voter lookup.
Voting in person
There are two options to vote in person for November’s election — early voting and election-day voting.
For both early voting and election day voting, you must vote at your assigned polling place based on your residential address to receive the correct ballot for your legislative district. You can find your assigned polling location and legislative district here.
Early voting in Maryland will take place from Oct. 24 to Oct. 31. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
The closest early voting center to this university is the College Park Community Center. There are 97 early voting locations in Maryland, including 11 in Prince George’s County.
Election day voting will take place on Nov. 5 from 7 a.m to 8 p.m.. There are two on-campus polling locations for election day: Stamp Student Union and Ritchie Coliseum.
Mail-in Ballots
The first step to voting by mail is to request a mail-in ballot.
Mail-in ballots must be requested from either the state elections board or the local elections board of the county the voter resides in.
If you have a Maryland driver’s license or an MVA-issued ID, you can request a mail-in ballot here.
You can also complete a mail-in ballot request form. After completing the form, you can mail, e-mail or fax the form to the local board.
The Prince George’s County local elections board is located in Largo at 1100 Mercantile Lane, Suite 115A and its email address is election@co.pg.md.us. A complete list of local election boards in Maryland can be found here.
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Mail-in ballot deadlines vary by state, but most recommend mail-in ballots to be received — not postmarked — by between one and 15 days prior to the election, so send your requests with enough time to meet the deadline.
You can check the status of your mail-in requests by visiting your state’s mail-in ballot tracker here.
Completed mail-in ballots can be mailed to your local board of elections, placed in a dropbox or given to an election official at the local board. The only ballot drop box location in College Park is at the College Park Community Center. A complete list of drop box locations can be found here.
You may also hand deliver your mail-in ballot to an early voting center.
Voting while studying abroad
Students at this university studying abroad who wish to vote in the upcoming must request a mail-in or absentee ballot.
To request an absentee ballot and register to vote, students can visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program site and complete the Federal Post Card Application.
Your state will email you a ballot after the application is completed.
The ballot will have instructions on how to return the ballot for your vote to be counted.