Frequently Asked Questions

Voter Registration

Campaign Finance

Candidates

Voter Registration

Q: Should the voter information be on a secure site?
A: No, because all of the information displayed on our site (name, residence, polling place, party affiliation) is publicly available through the Maryland State Board of Elections (SBE), which maintains the voter’s official registration information. There is no way to change a voter’s information from our site. It can only be changed by contacting your Local Board of Elections.

Q: As displayed, my voter information is incorrect. Can you change it for me?
A: No. We cannot edit or change your information. To change your information, you must contact your Local Board of Elections.

Q: Why can't I find my voter information on your site?
A: If you have entered your information correctly (First and Last Name, ZIP code, and date of birth), and you cannot find your voter registration information, then you should contact your Local Board of Elections to find out your registration status. We display only what we receive from the SBE, which receives registration information from the local boards.

Q: I have recently moved? Where do I vote?
A. If our database displays your new address, then you will vote at the polling place indicated. If our database displays your old address, you should contact your Local Board of Elections to update your information and find out where to vote.

Campaign Finance

Q: When I search for contributions/expenditures, I get a blank page instead of results. What's going on?
A: Most likely, this is occurring because you are using a browser that does not correctly display our site, such as America Online. Use a different browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) to view the search results correctly. If this does not solve the problem, please contact us at mdelections@umbc.edu or 410-455-1085.

Q: Why hasn't a candidate's finance report been updated yet?
A: The finance data on our site come from the SBE. The SBE provides us with data received from candidates and committees. During the week immediately before and the week immediately after a reporting deadline, we update our campaign finance database twice daily. At other times, we update approximately once per week. However, sometimes the data may not be updated immediately. For instance, it takes time for the SBE to process the campaign finance reports received from candidates, and some candidates may be late in filing their reports.

Q: When I search for a contributor by last name, why don't I find what I want?
A: To conduct the most thorough search for contributors, use the “wildcard” character (the percent sign, “%”) before the name. For example, to find contributions to all persons named Smith, search for “%Smith.” This will find results for all entries that begin with Smith (as in Smith Construction Co.) as well as people who are named Smith (as in Mike Smith). The wildcard character can also help in searching for corporate donors.

Q: Where can I find finance information on federal candidates?
A: Candidates for federal office (President, Vice President, U.S. Senator, U.S. Congress) do not report their finances to the Maryland State Board of Elections. Instead, they report to the Federal Election Commission. You can find their information at www.fec.gov

Candidate Information – for Candidates

Q: Why didn't I receive log in information?
A: If you did not receive your log in information, one of two things likely happened:

The e-mail with the information was sent to the e-mail address you provided to the SBE in your Certificate of Candidacy. If you do not check that regularly, it is possible that you missed the e-mail.
The e-mail we sent to you bounced back to us, or you do not have an e-mail address on file with the SBE. In that case, we sent you a letter in the mail; please look for that.

Q: Can you re-send me my log in information?
A: If you cannot find the information in either e-mail or regular mail, please contact us and we will provide it to you again by e-mail or mail. For security purposes, we do not provide the information by phone.

Q: I can't log in with the username/password you gave me.
A: When this happens, there are 3 usual causes:

The password is case-sensitive, which means you must enter the letters and numbers exactly as shown. Generally, the Username begins with a capital “C” and your password will contain 2 capital letters and a lowercase letter.
You may have entered a 1 (number One) instead of a lower-case L, or a number 0 instead of the letter O. It is sometimes difficult to tell them apart.
You have already logged in and made changes twice, and the system has locked you out. If this has happened, and you need to make changes to your information, please contact us.

Q: Can you enter my candidate information and/or picture for me?
A: The site is designed for you to enter the information yourself. If for some reason you cannot, you may contact us.

Q: Why won’t the database accept my photo?
A: If the database is rejecting your photo, this is either because:

The photo is not saved in the proper format – it must be a .jpg file, or
The photo is too large. Photos must be 50 kb or less, and 200x300 pixels or smaller.

Candidate Information – for Voters

Q: Why is some information for a specific candidate missing? (No photo, bio, and/or statement).
A: We provide each candidate running in the races indicated on the front page (Governor/Lt. Governor, Comptroller, Attorney General, U.S. Senator, Representative in Congress, State Senator, House of Delegates, Judge of the Circuit Court) access to the Candidate Information Database. They have the opportunity to add a picture, statement and biography to their information by logging on to our site, but we do not create the information for them. If there is no “extra” information listed for the candidate, it is because they have chosen not to submit anything.