Maryland’s highest court hearing mail ballot counting case Friday

Maryland’s highest court will hear arguments Friday morning over whether it’s appropriate — and constitutional — for elections officials to confidentially tally mail ballots as they arrive ahead of this fall’s general election. The Maryland Court of Appeals is considering the legal dispute on an expedited schedule, given the timeliness and importance of the outcome, but it’s not clear when the court may rule. The question before the court is whether to uphold a lower court’s ruling that allows the early counting of mail ballots for this election, rather than the standard post-Election Day counting that could take weeks due to an expected crush of Marylanders voting by mail.