By Greg Ellison

(June 17, 2021) To assure their ballots arrive on time for the upcoming Ocean Pines Board election, members of the Ocean Pines Association are being advised that the United States Postal Service continues to experience delivery delays.

Ballots for the 2021 election are scheduled to go out the week of July 12 and are due back by 5 p.m. on Aug. 11.

Elections Committee Chairman Steve Habeger said all property owners would be sent a mailer, with those deemed eligible to vote also receiving a ballot and return envelope.

“Everybody gets the agenda for the annual meeting and the biographical information about the candidates,” he said. “Ineligible voters get a letter explaining why they didn’t get a ballot.

“The bylaws require every member be advised of the date, time and place for the annual meeting,” he said.

Determining voter eligibility is handled by the association’s Membership Department without input from the Election Committee.

“The bylaws have several requirements for a property to be able to vote,” he said. “Why they’re eligible or not, we don’t know.”

Ballots can be mailed or delivered in person to a drop box located in the lobby of the Ocean Pines Police building.

Habeger said the latter option might be preferable, as the Aug. 11 cutoff gets closer.

“It was a surprise to us to learn if I drop a piece of mail in a drop box anywhere on the Eastern Shore it goes to Baltimore and then makes its way back,” he said.

Habeger said the association’s drop box option would eliminate the potential for mail delays.

Regardless of where and how ballots are cast, Thom Gulyas with Ace Printing & Mailing oversees the collection of them.

“Our print and mail contractor picks the mailings up either from the post office or from the ballot box,” he said.

After sorting returns to eliminate duplicates, Ace Printing delivers the envelopes to the Elections Committee.

“Then we’ll open, scan and count them and report the results,” he said.

Any ballots containing ineligible marks or selecting more than two candidates are put aside for closer inspection.

“Then the election committee looks at them and makes a decision whether they’re a valid ballot or not,” he said. “It’s a valid ballot and we count it or no it’s not and we don’t.”