The Calvert County Board of Elections will present its plan for the 2026 election cycle at a public meeting Wednesday, seeking approval for polling place relocations, precinct consolidations and retention of early voting and drop box sites from the prior year.
The session starts at 10 a.m. in Conference Room 1 on the lower level of the Community Resources Building at 30 Duke St. Board President Keith A. Lotridge will lead discussions alongside Vice President Anita W. Brown and members Cassandra Okwumabua and Tricia Powell. State law mandates such plans before each cycle to ensure operational readiness, covering site accessibility, staffing and voter access under Maryland Election Code provisions.
Proposed adjustments target Election District 3, where precincts 3-6 and 3-7 currently share Northern High School at 2954 Chaneyville Road in Owings. The board will weigh moving both to Ward Farm Park at 10455 Ward Road in Dunkirk, a county-owned site with ample parking and community hall space. Officials also plan to merge the two into a single precinct, designated 3-6, by redrawing boundaries. These steps follow the 2020 U.S. Census, which prompted statewide redistricting completed in 2022 to balance populations across districts every decade.
The consolidation aims to streamline administration in a growing area. Dunkirk, part of District 3’s northern tier along Route 4, saw population increases from suburban expansion, with Calvert County’s total reaching 92,783 residents by the 2020 count. Merging precincts can cut duplicate staffing needs, as each requires at least three election judges per Maryland rules, while the new venue offers better handicap access than the high school’s gym setup used since at least 2018.
Early voting sites would carry over unchanged: Ward Farm Park in Dunkirk, the Community Resources Building in Prince Frederick and Southern Community Center at 20 Appeal Lane in Lusby. These centers, established under the 2016 expansion of early voting, operate for nine days before general elections, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, with Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. Lusby’s location serves southern rural voters near the Patuxent River, while Prince Frederick anchors central access.
Drop boxes, secured under 24-hour surveillance per state guidelines, would remain at four spots: Northeast Community Center at 4075 Gordon Stinnett Avenue in Chesapeake Beach, Fairview Library at 8120 Southern Maryland Boulevard in Owings, the Community Resources Building and Southern Community Center. Introduced statewide in 2020 amid pandemic adjustments, these allow anytime ballot deposits until polls close, with tamper-evident seals and chain-of-custody logs required by the Maryland State Board of Elections.
The full precinct list, unaffected elsewhere, spans 20 sites countywide, from Solomons Rescue Squad in the south to North Beach Fire Department in the north. Recent tweaks, like 2024 shifts in Dunkirk and Lusby areas, stemmed from venue availability after school calendar conflicts, with mailers notifying 5,000 affected voters.
Public input shapes these decisions. Meetings stream live via Microsoft Teams, with archives at the state board’s portal. To speak, contact administrator Kristen Scott at 410-535-2214, extension 4, or Kristen.scott@calvertcountymd.gov by 4 p.m. Tuesday. Written submissions go to elections@calvertcountymd.gov by the same deadline. A notification list for polling changes includes over 200 locals and groups; additions require name and email via Scott
The 2026 cycle features the gubernatorial primary June 23, with general polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. November 3. Board approval triggers a 30-day public comment window on the plan, filed with the state by December. Past cycles, like 2022’s off-year with 45 percent turnout, tested similar consolidations without major hitches, as early voting absorbed 35 percent of ballots countywide.
Voters can check precincts via the state voter lookup tool, updated post-redistricting to reflect Legislative Districts 27-B and 27-C splits. As Southern Maryland’s population swells toward 100,000 by 2030 projections, such refinements keep paces with growth while curbing costs, budgeted at $1.2 million annually for Calvert’s operations.
