Virus reshapes special contest for Maryland seat in Congress
A Baltimore City Board of Elections worker sorts through folders at a canvasing warehouse ahead of the 7th Congressional District special election, Monday, April 27, 2020, in Baltimore. Democrat Kweisi Mfume and Republican Kimberly Klacik won special primaries for the Maryland congressional seat that was held by the late Elijah Cummings. Voters have been encouraged to mail in their ballots and only three in-person polling centers have been set up across the district in an effort to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland is holding a special election with just three polling centers open in a race dramatically reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic.
Former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume is the Democratic nominee facing Republican challenger Kimberly Klacik in Tuesday’s election for the seat opened by the death last October of Congressman Elijah Cummings.
Election officials mailed out roughly 484,000 ballots to 7th District voters, encouraging everyone to vote by mail by day’s end to reduce the risk of infection.
More than 85,000 votes were mailed in before Election Day.
The vote was going to be exclusively by mail, but limited in-person voting was allowed to accommodate the homeless and disabled.
