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DENTON – The Caroline County Board of Elections met Friday, June 20, 2025, and welcomed a new board member, announced candidates who have filed for local contests and acknowledged the dismissal of a complaint.
Attending the meeting were Board President James Bilbrough II, Vice President Suzanne Campos, Members Margaret Thompson and Dana Callahan, Election Director Allison Murphy, Election Program Specialist Tammy Willis and Board Attorney Walter Palmer.
The board welcomed new board member Angel Perez, who introduced himself. He is the programs and events manager of the Chesapeake Culinary Center and is the founder and CEO of Caroline Pride.
Jack Keats retired Feb. 14 and received a Governor’s Citation for his more than 24 years of service on the Board. Election Program Assistant Debbie Brohawn will be leaving July 31 after 10 years.
The 3-member State of Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board ruled May 12 that the Board did not violate the Open Meetings Act. An unnamed complainant had alleged that the Board violated the Act by posting agendas on its Facebook page, rather than on the Board’s official website, and additionally, not posting minutes online.
According to the Compliance Board’s official opinion, the Board of Elections “did not squarely address the Complainant’s allegation … but merely asserted that it has taken ‘corrective action’ and now posts agendas on the websites of the Board and the Caroline County government.” The Compliance Board commended the Board for updating its practice. Previously, the Board posted agendas on its Facebook page and in the vestibule of the Health and Public Services Building.
The Elections Board addressed the second complaint by acquiring access to the County Government’s online “Agenda Center.”
“We conclude that it was not practicable for the Board of Elections to post minutes online in 2024,” the Compliance Board reported.
Murphy sent out requests June 3 for interest from current election judges about working for the 2026 elections. She reported that she had received about 50 replies from the county’s 110 election judges who expressed interest in serving next year’s election. So far, only two judges said they were unable to serve, “so that’s really good,” she said.
“I feel like we're getting into the assignments early, so that we can have everyone in place earlier rather than later,” Murphy said. An online form for applying as an election judge is on the Board of Elections homepage at carolinemdelections.org.
Board staff is in the process of reviewing and updating the Election Judge Manual in time for the 2026 Elections.
As of June 9, five candidates had filed for Caroline County offices. They are Donnie Baker for Sheriff; Margie Hannawald, Stephanie Ramsey and Peggy Gallagher for Clerk of Circuit Court; and Linda Dunn for Register of Wills.
The deadline to file as a candidate for office is 9 p.m. Feb. 24, 2026. Next year’s Gubernatorial Primary Election Day is June 23, 2026, with early voting from July 11 to July 18. The General Election will be Nov. 3, 2026, with early voting Oct. 22 to Oct. 29.
As of June 9, there are 23,722 registered voters in the county’s eight precincts. Republicans lead the count at 11,608; Democrats, 6,287; Unaffiliated, 5,375; Green, 31; and Working Class Party, 31. Other parties total 390.
According to the Maryland Manual On-Line, as of January 2019, three political parties were recognized by the State Board of Elections: the Bread and Roses Party, the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party.
The next meeting of the Board of Elections is set for Friday, July 11. Meetings are livestreamed on the carolinemd.org website.
Editors's Note: the early voting timeline was updated to reflect early voting in 2026 from July 11 to July 18.
