Local boards review the return envelope for the voter’s signature on the oath as soon as the ballot arrives. Election Law § 11-302 requires that review promptly after receipt. If the oath is unsigned, the board must notify the voter as soon as practicable, and no later than three business days after it determines the signature is missing, and must give the voter a way to correct it.
The State Board’s canvassing page says the board contacts the voter by email, mail, or phone, using the preferred method on the ballot request if there is one, and another method if that notice does not go through. COMAR 33.11.03.06 matches that rule.
The voter does not cast a new ballot. The voter supplies the missing signed oath. State law requires these options:
- A digital picture of the signature, sent by text or email
- Text
- An accessible online portal
- A mailed form
- An in-person visit to the local board
The signed oath must reach the local board before 10 a.m. on the day that is 10 days after Election Day. For
The 2026 general, Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, so that deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday, November 13. That is also the second Friday after the election, as the State Board describes it.
If the signed oath is not in by then, the board must reject the ballot. A rejection requires a unanimous vote of the local board of canvassers. If the vote to reject is not unanimous, the ballot is counted.
The ballot is posted to the statewide system, then to the public voter lookup, within two business days for a mailed ballot and within four business days for a ballot provided online or by fax. A “received” status is not the same as “accepted.” The signature cure happens after receipt.
WHAT CANNOT BE CURED THIS WAY?
The Maryland State Board lists these as mandatory rejections. A late signature cure does not fix them:
- Not timely. For 2026, that means postmarked after November 3, or received after 10 a.m. on Friday, November 13. The voter’s affidavit can cover a missing or illegible postmark if the ballot was mailed on or before Election Day. That affidavit is a timeliness rule, not the signature cure.
- No signed oath, and no signed oath submitted by 10 a.m. on November 13.
- An identifying mark the board finds was placed on the ballot on purpose.
- A ballot issued to an agent and returned unsealed.
- Required identification not provided before 10 a.m. on the second Friday after the election.
- More than one ballot in the same envelope.
If the same voter returns more than one mail-in ballot in separate envelopes, the board counts the one with the most recently signed oath and rejects the earlier ones. If the oath dates match or cannot be read, the board rejects both. A mail-in ballot and a provisional ballot from the same voter: the mail-in ballot counts unless the provisional was already counted when the mail-in arrived.
An unclear mark voids only that contest, not the rest of the ballot. Print-at-home ballots are duplicated onto a scannable ballot during the canvass. That is a processing step, not a voter cure.
HOW THIS FITS THE CHASE
Canvassing of mail-in ballots starts eight days before early voting for 2026, which is Tuesday, October 13. (Day After Columbus Day) Signature defects can surface well before Election Day, so the cure list isn’t just a post-election file.
Pull the cure list every day it updates. The contact should name the county board, the method that board is actually using, and the hard stop: signed oath in hand before 10 a.m. on November 13. A mailed cure form is a poor option in the last few days. Text, email, portal, or an in-person visit to that county’s board is the practical path. Do these things religiously.
Official references: Election Law § 11-302, COMAR 33.11.03.06, and the State Board canvassing page at elections.maryland.gov/voting/canvassing.html. County boards post their own canvass dates and are the office that actually takes the signed oath.