We're Having an Election!

Sunday, November 7, 2021

This is an election year in the City of College Park. Voters will vote for the offices of Mayor and their two District Councilmembers to serve for the next two-year term. The Mayor is elected at-large, and the eight district Councilmembers (two from each of the four Council districts) are elected from their respective districts.

The Election will be held on Sunday, November 7 at the College Park Community Center, 5051 Pierce Avenue, in Lakeland, from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. There is ample parking around the Community Center, and permit parking restrictions in the surrounding neighborhood will be relaxed.

The City is encouraging qualified voters to vote by mail using an absentee ballot. In the 2020 General Election, due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the public became familiar with absentee voting and many enjoyed the convenience it provided.

Absentee Voting by Mail Through October 26

To facilitate this process, all registered voters were mailed an application for an Absentee Ballot in late September. Applications also may be downloaded from our website or picked up at any City building. Ballots will be mailed to the voter beginning in early October. Your completed application for an absentee ballot must be received by the City no later than 4:00 p.m. on October 26. We encourage you to return your application to one of the City’s secure ballot drop boxes, which are checked daily:

  • Davis Hall: 9217 51st Avenue
  • On Campus: west side of Stamp Student Union, on Union Lane, by the USPS and FedEx boxes
  • Calvert Road School: 4601 Calvert Road

You can also mail your application to us, but note that we must receive your completed application before October 26 so we can mail out your ballot. Please, do not return your application to City Hall.

Late Application (In-person) Absentee

Beginning October 27, requested ballots will no longer be mailed to voters because there may not be enough time for the ballot to reach the voter through the US Mail. Instead, a qualified voter may apply for a late absentee ballot in person at City Hall from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8400 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 375.) The voter may vote on-the-spot or may return the voted ballot in one of the ways listed below. The same receipt deadlines will apply.

Returning Your Ballot

Absentee Ballots can be returned in one of three ways:

  • By Mail, in the ballot envelope provided: Ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by noon on Wednesday, November 10.
  • Deposited in a Ballot Drop Box (locations listed above): Ballots must be deposited by 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 7, 2021. Because of recent uncertainties about mail delivery, the City encourages the use of drop boxes.
  • In person, at the Poll: College Park Community Center, 5051 Pierce Avenue, not later than Sunday, November 7, at 6:00 p.m.

Please, do not return your ballot to City Hall.

Voter Notification Cards

In mid-October, Prince George’s County will mail Voter Notification Cards to all individuals that are listed on the City’s voter rolls. These 3.75” x 8.5” beige postcards are small and might be easy to overlook, but they are very important. If a card comes to your residence for someone who no longer lives there, please mark the card appropriately (i.e., moved, deceased, wrong address, etc…) and put it back in the mailbox to be returned to the County. The postcard is marked “Official Government Mail” and “Return Service Requested” so no postage is needed. It is important to keep our voter registration records up to date, and one way to do this is to send improperly addressed election mail back to the County through the postal service.

Please, do not throw away or disregard this notification card!

When and where can I find the Election Results?

The Board of Election Supervisors (BOES) will provide preliminary election results after the polls close on Sunday, November 7. Those results will tally only the machine (scanner) votes from the poll on Election Day and are therefore incomplete.

The Official Canvass occurs the following Wednesday, November 10. At the Official Canvass, the Absentee ballots and qualified Provisional ballots will be tallied and added to the Election Day results. The Canvass will be televised and live-streamed, and the BOES will announce the results at the conclusion of the Canvass. The BOES will then certify the final results of the election at the City Council Meeting on Tuesday, November 16.

For more information about voting and elections in the City, please contact the City Clerk, Janeen S. Miller, at 240-487-3501 or jsmiller@collegeparkmd.gov.