Elections Committee releases preliminary ballot report

(Aug. 8, 2020) The Ocean Pines Election Committee today released preliminary results of the 2020 Board of Directors Election.  

Vote totals for the three candidates running for two available positions on the Board were as follows: 
 

1. Doug Parks: 2,206  
2. Colette Horn: 1,801  
3. Stuart Lakernick: 1,149  

The 2020 ballots also included a question regarding the possible use of electronic voting in future elections. A total of 1,581, or 65.8%, were in favor of electronic voting, while 822, or 34.2%, said they were not in favor. In total, there were 2,403 responses to the question. 

Additionally, the Elections Committee released a breakdown of overall voting totals.  

According to a preliminary report from Elections Committee Chairman Steve Habeger, 6,975 total ballots were mailed. A total of 2,759 ballots were counted on Friday, for a return of 39.6%, including 2,745 scanned ballots and 14 manually counted ballots. 

A total of 20 ballots were rejected, including 18 which were marked improperly or included comments on the ballot, and two which used improper return envelopes.  

Additionally, 60 ballots were not counted because they were received one day after the Aug. 5 deadline.  

Including rejected and late ballots, the total 2020 return rate was 40.7%. 

For sake of comparison, 7,957 ballots were mailed in 2019, and 3,073 were counted, for a 38.6% return rate.  

Also in 2019, seven ballots were declared invalid, including four which were marked improperly or included comments on the ballot, and three which voted for more than the allowed number of candidates. Forty-six ballots were received after the voting deadline, including 42 received two days late and four received four days after the deadline.  

Including rejected and late ballots, the total 2019 return rate was 39.2%.  

To view the 2020 preliminary ballot report, visit www.oceanpines.org/documents/20124/91011/Preliminary%20ballot%20report.docx/36ac7d49-6520-d1ea-2431-02918c28bc5b.