Prince George’s County, Maryland, residents won’t have an elected county executive before the start of the summer.
But they’ll have one at least a couple of weeks sooner than what was originally proposed. The Prince George’s County Council has scheduled a special election to fill the office vacated by Angela Alsobrooks after she was elected to the U.S. Senate.
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The council voted to hold a special primary March 4, a week sooner than what was originally proposed. The special general election will be held May 27, faster than the originally proposed date of June 17.
Voters in the county council’s District 5 will also elect a new county council representative.
While it allows for a long process, it’s also later than what some on the council had hoped for. There are concerns about how the county executive office’s will be filled by an acting representative almost until the day the county budget needs to be approved.
And the fact the county council will go almost a full year with 10 members has also frustrated some members, with the council split 5-5 along ideological lines.
“We really do have to balance the need for representation and honestly, the need for stability right now,” said council member Krystal Oriadha. “I think we’ve gone way too long with this body not having full representation.”
The council was able to somewhat shorten the original dates at the urging of council member Tom Dernoga, who has been a consistent critic of the longer timelines pushed by the Board of Elections.
At the same time, to save time and money, Dernoga has also pushed for a single, special general election without a primary. Most others on the council aren’t with him on that though, on top of concerns about that being in compliance with state law.
But why can’t the primary and general elections happen sooner?
“All this takes time,” said Board of Elections Administrator Wendy Honesty-Bey. “The printers need time to print the ballots, to mail these ballots out to over 600,000 voters. We have to do logistic and accuracy testing on our equipment that is going out to these vote centers. It’s a process. Again, this has been shortened in the past. We haven’t had election after election after election in the past as well.”
There’s also concern a close primary could lead to recounts or legal challenges that could slow the certification and the printing of ballots ahead of the general.
“The additional time between the primary and the general would be necessary because if you’re dealing with any sort of election challenge post primary, there is time built into the schedule, not a lot of time,” said Michael Adams, a lawyer with the Board of Elections. “We may not need that time, but it’s there in case we do.”
Those concerns had credence with the council, but only so much.
“The likelihood of there being post election litigation is minuscule, and we’re weighing that against the interests of people being represented in the county government,” Dernoga said. “While I think he’s got a good point that there could be litigation … the vast likelihood is you’re not going to need that period.”
Candidates for those seats have until Dec. 20 to file to get their names on the ballot. So far State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, county council members Jolene Ivey and Calvin Hawkins, as well as former County Executive Rushern Baker have all declared they’re running for county executive.
Cheverly Mayor Kayce Munyeneh and Ryan Middleton, Prince George’s County’s director of government accountability, have announced they’re running for the open District 5 seat on the county council.
Shayla Adams-Stafford, who is currently on the Prince George’s County Board of Elections, also recently won the endorsement of the Metro D.C. Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America for that seat.