Don’t panic. Just look up your ballot status for the November election

Marylanders: Did you do what I did last month and request an absentee ballot from the Maryland Board of Elections? Are you worried that you haven’t seen it yet, or confused because you received by mail a “Maryland Application for a Mail-in Ballot”? Let me help you out.

(Of course, all these explanations and reminders probably would not be necessary if Gov. Larry Hogan had just allowed the Board to mail us ballots, without having to request them, as it did for the primary elections.)

First of all, you can look up the status of your request for an absentee ballot. Just click this link and fill in the blanks, then click on “Status of My Mailed-in or Provisional Ballots.” The Board starts mailing out ballots 30 to 45 days before Election Day. Election Day is Nov. 3.

If you requested an absentee ballot and just received a “Maryland Application for a Mail-in Ballot,” you do not have to do anything except place the latter in your recycling bin. It’s not necessary to mail that in. Nikki Charleston of the Board of Elections explains why you might have received it: “On August 6, we generated a list of voters who did not have a request for a mail-in ballot in the database. These voters received the mailing. There were voters, like you, who submitted a request but it had not yet been processed by the local board of elections on August 6.  Because it hadn’t been processed, you received the mailing.”

Hope that helps. Just check your status. Mine says, “Application received.”

So be patient. Don’t panic. Your ballot will be mailed later this month or in October. You will vote and either mail in your ballot or deliver it to your local board or to a drop-off box. The list of ballot drop-off boxes will be listed on the board’s website.