Baltimore County officials reverse course, say they will start counting mail-in ballots early as other big counties are doing

The Baltimore County Board of Elections will begin counting mail-in ballots ahead of the Nov. 8 election, officials announced Wednesday, reversing a previous decision to wait. Ruie Lavoie, county elections director, said canvassing of mail-in ballots will start Nov. 5. On Wednesday, after The Baltimore Sun’s initial story, Lavoie said space has been located to move the training. Baltimore County would have been the state’s most populous jurisdiction to hold off on counting ballots. Montgomery County, which has more than 670,000 eligible active voters, plans to begin counting mail-in ballots on Saturday. Prince George’s County, which has almost 509,000 eligible active voters, will begin next week.