Talbot County Sheriff Joseph Gamble (R) said he’s heard from roughly two dozen county residents concerned about a lack of Republican election judges in the county. The sheriff sent a letter to local election officials this week calling on them to abide by state law. State elections officials said state laws are being followed. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.
The Talbot County Sheriff has waded into a dispute over election judges in the county, writing county election officials to remind them that his office provides election security and “strongly” urging them “to comply with Maryland law.”
The letter, which some interpreted as a veiled threat, drew a swift and sharp rebuke from Maryland’s top election official. State Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis said that Talbot County election officials are in compliance with state election law, and noted that Sheriff Joseph Gamble (R) does not have the authority to provide security for polling places or enforce election law.
“Marylanders can feel safe, secure and confident that their ballot will be counted and determinative for the election,” DeMarinis wrote in a statement responding to questions from Maryland Matters. “As the trusted source of information for the electoral process, Marylanders should be confident in our compliance with the law and the conduct of the election.”
In an interview Wednesday, Gamble seemed surprised that his letter could be construed as a threat. He said he was merely passing on concerns from voters that there was an imbalance of election judges based on party affiliation.
“How could anybody up there construe that to be a threat?” Gamble said. “When I say this is the law, you’re not in compliance with the law, I’m encouraging you to be in compliance. Is that a threat? I mean, if you’re doing something illegal, and I say … you need to stop breaking the law, is that a threat?”
Talbot County Election Director Tammy Stafford did not return a call from a reporter seeking comment.
The letter cited concerns about the fact that local election officials report having 62 Democratic election judges and 50 Republicans to work polling places in the upcoming election. Gamble said he received nearly two dozen complaints about “uneven representation” and called it a “violation of Maryland election law.”
The letter does not note that the county has lined up another 11 election judges who are not affiliated with either party — who can be used under state law to counter an imbalance in partisan makeup of other judges.
Maryland Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis. Photo by Bryan P. Sears.
Maryland law calls for two election judges — one each from the principal minority and majority parties in the state — for a precinct of less than 200 voters.
But finding enough election judges is frequently a challenge. Baltimore City, Baltimore, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties have historically had trouble finding Republicans to work the polls. In many rural jurisdictions, finding Democrats to work as judges has been a challenge.
The pandemic and age — poll judges have tended to be of retirement age — have exacerbated the problem. In response, the General Assembly voted to make it easier to fill those spots.
In larger precincts where six or more judges are needed, those positions can be filled with registered Democratic or Republican voters as well as unaffiliated voters. Minors 16 and older can also serve as election judges.
“The reason for the expansion of election judge recruitment was simple. We need individuals to serve,” DeMarinis said in his statement.
Gamble said he does not think there is anything “nefarious going on,” but that the people he is hearing from are frustrated.
“It creates, in people’s mind — why aren’t they following the law? Is there some nefarious going on? I don’t think there is,” Gamble said. “I just think they might not have a certain number of applications by a certain date on the Republican side, and they just trained what they trained, and they moved on.
“I just think they’re being lazy,” he said. “I mean, it’s government.”
But DeMarinis said judges are appointed nearly three months before the primary election. Training is “an ongoing process,” he said, adding that local election directors “must balance operational needs with the realities of managing an enormous, temporary workforce when assigning election judges to positions and locations.”
The issue first came up during a Talbot County Council meeting last week when Councilman Dave Stepp said that leaders of the county’s Republican Party tried to find additional judges, but their applications were being held until 2026. During that meeting, Stepp asked the council to send a letter to Stafford, asking that the elections board “follow the law,” but his motion was rejected.
Voters decide the outcomes of elections. The party affiliation of an election judge does not stop them from casting their ballots or disenfranchise a voter. And to say otherwise is disingenuous.
– State Election Administrator Jared DeMarinis
Gamble said he got involved in the issue after being contacted by residents of the county about the imbalance. In his letter to Stafford, Gamble noted that deputies from his office “will be conducting security checks of polling places and escorting ballots to your office to ensure we have a safe and fair election.”
“I strongly urge you to comply with Maryland law,” Gamble wrote. “Talbot County citizens and election workers need to feel safe and secure that the law is being followed. Anything short of compliance can lead to frustration from those who feel disenfranchised. this could easily be mitigated to prevent any possible security and safety related issues.”
“I have a duty to protect the rights of all Talbot County residents,” Gamble wrote, asking county election officials about their intention to “correct the current representation in election judges” and a timeframe for that.
In an interview, Gamble described the security checks as drive-by patrols. Escorts are typical, he said, as election judges transport ballots to elections headquarters. Both he said are standard and have been done in the past.
But some of Gamble’s language drew a rebuke from DeMarinis.
“The sheriff’s office does not have any legal authority to conduct security checks or a role in securing the ballots in a polling place,” DeMarinis wrote. “Nor does the sheriff enforce the requirements of the Election Law Article. The legal authority to keep the peace, to preserve the integrity of the voting process and maintain order in the polling place is entrusted to the election judge. In fact, a police officer must obey the order of the election judge at the polling place.”
He also took issue with Gamble’s statement that “Republican voters are not being represented” and that they could feel disenfranchised as a result.
“Voters decide the outcomes of elections. The party affiliation of an election judge does not stop them from casting their ballots or disenfranchise a voter. And to say otherwise is disingenuous,” DeMarinis wrote.
“Any complaints about an election judge regarding their fitness, qualifications, or performance, should be reported immediately to the local board of elections, which has the authority to investigate and remove that election judge.”
Gamble said he can’t help how people construe things, but that nothing in his letter was intended to be threatening.
“I think the letter is drafted in a way that was like, I have a complaint. I understand these are the numbers. This is what the law says. Please comply with the law,” he said.
The sheriff acknowledged that the election law contains no criminal penalty. He added that he is “not sending anybody over there to arrest anybody.”
But he did raise the potential of legal action, saying “any citizen” could go to court and file a writ of mandamus to get a judge to issue an order telling election officials what do. Gamble hedged on whether he would be the one to do it.
“I don’t have time for it,” said Gamble, who noted his agency is in the process of moving to new offices.
“I mean, if we had to, then I would go and try to figure out how to write a writ of mandamus,” he said. “I’ve never written one before, but I can get on my computer and get AI to do it for me, right? And then I can go in front of the judge if I had to. But, you know, my preference would be for them to follow the law.”