.png)
What's Happening MoCo?
An authentic, unscripted update from County Cable Montgomery highlighting items that help residents of Montgomery County. This program features interviews with elected officials, employees, public servants, and residents. It is produced by the Office of Community Engagement from the Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Services. Interviews are recorded live and presented with very few edits to ensure the integrity and authenticity of the conversations.
What's Happening MoCo?
What's Happening with How to Vote in 2026
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We sit down with Dr. Gilberto Zalaya from the Montgomery County Board of Elections to turn voting season into a simple plan you can actually follow. We break down the 2026 primary timeline, every way to vote, and the fast text tools that help you register, find locations, and avoid last-minute mistakes.
Be sure to like, subscribe, and share this very important episode of the What's Happening Moco podcast to let all your friends, neighbors, colleagues, and whomever else know how to vote
Transcript
Cold Open And Welcome
Derrick KennyHey you, get over here! Are you ready to vote? Do you know all the things you need to know to vote in this year's elections? I didn't think so. That's why I brought in the doctor. The good doctor, Dr. Z, up next on What's Happening Moco.
AnnouncerGood day and welcome to What's Happening Moco, an authentic, unscripted podcast from your Montgomery County government. Now, here's your host, Derek Kenney.
Derrick KennyGood day and welcome to What's Happening Moco. Today I am joined by the good doctor, Dr. Z, the doctor voting for Montgomery County, Maryland, Dr. Gilberto Zalaya. He's from the Montgomery County Board of Elections. Good day, Dr. Z. How are you today?
SPEAKER_03How are you? I'm blessed. Thank you for having me.
Derrick KennyAll right. And I will say affectionately known as Dr. Z by residents, voters, and others, because he is the man with all the information that you as residents need to know to get ready for this year's election. What can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role with the Board of Elections? And how long have you been doing this?
SPEAKER_03Okay, well, I've been uh I joined the Board of Elections in 2003. So it's been a while. Uh have a lot of elections, a lot of experience working with an outstanding team at the Montgomery County Board of Elections. We're a small shop, about 32, 33 individuals. We do bulk up uh as we lead up to an election with uh outstanding civic-minded attempts that really buttress our need to support our voters and to serve their needs. Um, I'm the public information community engagement uh officer for the Montgomery County Board of Elections. And really the title itself is engagement and making sure that our voters have all the information uh at their hands.
Derrick KennyRight. And uh one thing I want to do is make sure that people are aware of what's at stake in this election, not like what's at stake, like this uh you have to go out and vote, but um it's your right and your civic power as a resident of Montgomery County to get out to vote. What are some of the elections um that people should be aware of taking place this year?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so of course our nation's you know about to celebrate its 250th anniversary. So there's a lot of historical aspects of voting, civil rights uh movements, the advent of the Voter Rights Act, the different uh uh amendments to the constitution, Bill of Rights, you know, the the it's just the plethora of advancements uh to the franchise to ensure that every voter gets a vote. Uh this particular year is the 2026 gubernatorial uh elections. Um we'll get into the dates and deadlines, obviously. Um, but on the ballot, some of the contests uh will be governor, lieutenant governor. Uh, there's some federal races, county council, county executive. Um, and so it's important that individuals uh start formulating a vote plan. I know there are uh many candidates knocking on doors and circulating advertisings, mailers, et cetera. But full disclosure, we do not have any information regarding the positions or the stance of any of the candidates. You need to do that research on your own. Google it. The League of Women Voters has an outstanding voter's guide. Um, but we basically ensure that during early voting and on election days, uh, on election day that the polls open at seven and they close at eight. And as long as uh voters in line by eight, they'll get to vote. And then we'll talk a little bit about the different ways of voting, including mailing voting.
Derrick KennyAnd how about that? I was getting ready to get to that just next, because uh, in many cases, people don't have enough patience to watch the entire podcast episode like they should. Um, so we want to make sure we give them as much information possible in the beginning part of this conversation. So let's let's go ahead and delve into that. What are some of the voting options available to residents and what are some of the deadlines they should be aware of?
Mail-In, Early Voting, Election Day
SPEAKER_03Okay. So Montgomery, and uh, which is within the state of Maryland, uh, we have three ways of voting. Number one is mail-in voting, uh, formerly known as absentee voting.
Derrick KennyOkay.
SPEAKER_03You do not need an excuse. Uh, there are individuals, about 117,000 Montgomery County voters who are on the permanent mail-in list.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03So it's important that if you signed up to be on the permanent list, right? Permanent active list, uh, but you've changed your mind, and maybe this particular election you want to vote in person, yeah. You need to contact us, ASAP, to get your name off that list. Mail-in ballots should circulate, should drop into the postal stream around Mother's Day, a day here or there, uh before or after. Um, and also we will install our 58 ballot drop boxes strategically across the county. Um, there's gonna be a lot of information we're gonna share here, but everything will be emailed, I mean, mailed to you uh as a sample ballot. All right. So all the information. So number one, if you're on the permanent list, great. You're gonna get a notification. If you want to get off the permanent list because you want to vote in person, do that ASAP. You could call our office at 240-777-8500. Uh, and we could definitely help you out. And all the information is on our website at 777votes.org. All right. So first one is mail in voting. Uh, second option, uh, we have two in-person options. Number one is voting early. Uh, the early season for the primary elections from the 11th through the 18th of June. Uh, we have 14 early voting centers. All of that information is on our website. And once again, we will mail that sample ballot with all the corresponding information, locations, address, et cetera, to each uh registered voter. And then the last option uh to vote in person will be on election day, which is Tuesday, June 23rd. Which is important is if you're voting early, you are not tied to the nearest early voting center. Okay, so that's kind of it's advantageous because as you know, Montgomery County, just the DMV traffic is horrible, right? It's horrendous. So if you happen to work in a district, it's the last day of early voting, you have something to do over the weekend, you won't be here in person on election day, knock it out during early voting. Right. But you don't have to, let's say if you live in Gaithensburg, you don't have to go all the way up to Boer Park. You could vote at the downtown Silver Springs Civic Building. So make a vote plan. Make a vote plan.
SPEAKER_02All right.
SPEAKER_03Um, individuals during the early voting season could text the letters E, V, plus uh a zip code to 77788. And that texting prompt during the early voting season from the 11th through the 18th of June will give you the three nearest early voting locations, driving directions, and wait times. Can you say it one more time? So uh during the early voting season, if you want to identify the nearest early voting location, we have 14. You text the letters E and V plus your zip code or a zip code to 77788 during the 11th through the 18th. It doesn't work before or after. And the system, the texting prompt will give you the nearest early voting centers, uh, driving directions and also wait time. So it's a great tool. We've had that for a couple of years. People love it. Um, and as pertains to those who are voting by mail, if you want to identify the nearest ballot drop box, all you have to do is text the word box and your zip code. Box and your zip code to 77788, and it will give you the nearest drop box and also a poll uh post office locator. So in case maybe a drop box, but over 95% of our ballot drop boxes are within two to five miles of our registered voters. So they're accessible. We have 58 of them. Wow. Okay, great. And and one thing that's very important to know if you're voting by mail and you tend to procrastinate, we're all creatures of habit. Yeah, how about that? And you're, you know, you have it under your pillow or whatnot. And it's like the week of early voting, uh, you know, election day is coming. That make sure that that mail-in ballot, that envelope, gets postmarked by the clerk at the post office, which means do not assume if you just deposit it in one of the 600, those blue collection USPS bins across the county or at the post office that they're going to frank it or date stamp it that particular day. So walk it in, get in line, and have the postmaster or the clerk stamp that particular date. Remember, post offices close normally around five, but that's the benefit of our drop boxes. They're available 24-7 from the moment we've installed them all the way until election night, uh, June 23rd, 8 p.m.
Derrick KennyAll right. So for early voting, you could vote wherever you like to, any voting center. Um, if you are mailing in your vote, you could vote, you could drop it in any type of uh rest or whatever the drop boxes, reciprocal, whatever, drop boxes or mailboxes, as long as you do it early enough for them to be stamped um within time for the voting.
SPEAKER_03Yes, if you're gonna use the post office, you need to get it franked with that particular date. Uh, if it happens to be election day, the 23rd of June, uh take it to a drop box, okay? Because the post office is normally closed at five. What happens is once we get in that mail in ballot, if it's postmarked after the 23rd, like the 24th or 25th, we're not going to incorporate into our canvas and it's not going to be scanned and counted.
Provisional Ballots And Voting Day Tips
Derrick KennyNo, let's talk about the day of. Uh, if people want to vote the day of, what are some of the concerns that people may have that they articulate to you or questions they have for you, concerns, and what are some of the best answers they should be aware of?
SPEAKER_03Perfect. So that's a great question. It's part of formulating a vote plan, right? Um, number one, obviously, we mentioned that early voting, you're not tied to the nearest location. You could go to any of the 14 locations. Election day, our preference is that you go to your corresponding election day polling place, which is listed on the back cover of your sample ballot voter's guide. Now, what's important about that, if for whatever reason you are not near your election day polling place, you could go to any polling place, but you will vote a provisional ballot. Okay. We do not turn voters away. So that's a safeguard in itself. However, we want to ensure that you get the appropriate ballot style, that you're in the appropriate location. But if you happen and you live up county, you're stuck down county traffic, you're not going to make it by 8 p.m., find the nearest uh election day polling place, get in line, and you will provisional. It's a safeguard. But to identify the appropriate, if you misplace your sample ballot, text the word check to 77788. Check to 77788. And you could check your voter registration and check your election day polling place. Oh, wow. Okay. And then you could identify where you need to be. So, you know, it's early enough that you can start formulating the vote plan. Also, very important. Uh, the voter registration deadline is Tuesday, June 2nd. So if you got married, maybe divorce, you've downsized was your kids on the way to college, you bought a bigger house, all the above. We don't need to know the circumstances. What we need for you just to update your Maryland voter registration.
Derrick KennyOh, wow.
SPEAKER_03To do that, text the word update. Update, simple word, update to 77788. Okay. And you could use the online voter registration system to update your voter registration ASAP.
Derrick KennySo I'm hearing 77788 quite a bit. Yes. And I guess that's on purpose. Uh, and a lot of what you're doing is relates to your community engagement, making things as easy as possible for residents. Yes. So let's let's go down the list one more time of the contact uh information and the critical things people need to have as tools. Yes, so to get their things.
SPEAKER_03Yes, that trustee cell phone. So the first one is registering to vote. Okay. Text the word vote to 77788. Vote to 77788. You will need to have one of the three forms of ID, which is your driver's license or learner's permit or MVA ID. Okay. And you'll also need to uh provide the last four digits of your social security number. Okay. If you don't have one of the three forms of ID, you won't be able to use the online voter registration system. You could call our office at 240-777-8500. You could also register, uh, there's applications at the libraries, rec centers. You could go to the Motor Vehicles Administration to register to vote as well, or our offices in Gaitensburg. That's the first step. Second step, if there's life changes, whatever it is, or maybe you want to affiliate. Remember, Maryland has closed primaries. So if there's a candidate that's a registered Democrat or a Republican and you want to support that individual with your vote, you need to be, you have to be under that flag or registered of the two major parties. Okay. If you need to update your registration, et cetera, text the word update to 77788. Okay. If you want to check that your registration is up to speed, everything is current since the last election, which was a 2024 presidential, text the word check. Just check your registration to 77788. Now, now let's say you want to vote by mail and you want to request a ballot, right? Text the letters VBM. That's for vote by mail. VBM to 77788. And you can request your mail-in ballot online using our texting prompt. During the early voting season, if you want to identify the nearest early voting center, text the letters E and V plus your zip code to 77788. If you want the nearest drop box, the word is box and your zip code to the same number, 77788. And the last one, and we talked about earlier, you want to check your election day polling place, text the word check to 77788.
Derrick KennyAll right. So I'm going to give you, we've you've given all this information. That's a lot. Um, but for people like myself that are a little ADHD or ADD or all those things. ABC, XYZ information overload. Yeah, it's a lot. Uh what are the I'm gonna give you a couple of um items and you'll give me the dates associated. Absolute last chance to vote this year uh in the primaries.
SPEAKER_03So number one is the voter advanced voter registration is June 2nd. Election day is the last opportunity to vote in person, which is Tuesday, June 23rd.
Derrick KennyJune 23rd.
SPEAKER_03And early voting season is from the 11th through the 18th of June. Okay. Okay, so it's very important. Ballot drop boxes and mail in ballots will start circulating, or the boxes will be installed around Mother's Day through June 23rd, 2026.
Derrick KennyAnd if I wanted to register to vote, if I've if I'm not registered to vote, or if I need to change my party affiliation, I can do that starting now or yes, you could starting yesterday.
SPEAKER_03So, and you know the texting prompts. You need to register, the word is vote. You need to check your registration, the word is check. You need to update your registration, the word is update to 77788.
Election Security And When Ballots Count
Derrick Kenny77788. And we'll have those words if you guys want to watch the video, go to Facebook or watch us on cable, County Cable Montgomery, 6 p.m. on Sundays. Best way to watch this. Cable's great. All right. Um, no bias there. Now, now what now this is an interesting climate that we're in for different reasons, and um there are many people that may be voting for the first time or um voting again, and but within this new climate, don't feel as safe and secure as they have in the past. What type of security um will be provided, or what types of um things should people be aware of as they um go out to vote in person or even to drop off of ballots? Um, should there be concerns? Uh um are there measures in place to make sure things are easy as possible for uh folks that want to participate?
Poll Worker Jobs And Requirements
SPEAKER_03So we have safeguards up and down the tree. Okay. We do work with the local authorities, we do work with Montgomery County Police. If a drop box or polling place or early voting center are within the city limits of, let's say, the city of Gaitersburg or Rockville, we work closely with their police department. Uh, we've been working on this since the last election. We just didn't decide to wake up 90 days before and let's get this, let's get this party started. Yeah, why not? No, we've been we've been working best practices since we certified the presidential general elections in 2024. Um, also keep in mind that none of our equipment is connected to the internet while individuals are scanning their ballots on election day or during early voting. Oh, really? Okay. We are going to start our pre-Canvas early June for those individuals who are voting by mail. So if you want your mail-in ballot to be quote unquote counted or part of the election night release, don't sleep on it. Send it ASAP to us. The quicker and the more mail-in ballots we get to uh Canvas on election night, we're going to release all pre-Canvas mail-in ballots, those results. We're going to release the early voting over the eight consecutive days at the 14 centers. And then that last of the polling places as they trickle in on election night. Um, but if you wait until the 23rd or the week of uh before the onset of early voting or election day, we're not guaranteeing that your mail-in ballot will be counted as such because there's other things we need to do. We're running almost a mini post office with our 58 drop boxes. Well, yeah, you know, and here's a call for outstanding civic-minded poll workers. We're a small team, right? We have over 700,000 registered voters. We need volunteers to serve as a poll worker. You can earn up to$250 per day. For high school kids, you can earn up to 25 SSL. If you are a graduating senior and work multiple days of early voting and election day, you can make about almost up to$2,300. Oh, wow. So it's a nice little bit of change. Yeah, right. And then some book money well. Yes, exactly. Tablet money, I guess. Exactly. And then those rising seniors or current juniors and underclassmen, they could work three days for up to uh it's math at that point,$250 times three,$750 plus$50 for training, or 75 SSL. And so it's important that individuals understand that part of the safeguards is having also poll workers that they're trained and they're vetted. It's not just the technology aspect of it, not being connected on the internet. Uh, everything is scanned and barcoded, there's tamper tapes, there's tabs, there's locks. Also, our first line of defense of our poll workers. We train them, they're vetted, they're registered voters. Wonderful.
Derrick KennyNow, if someone wants to be a poll worker, how do you go about the process of applying or being eligible? Yes.
SPEAKER_03So, number one, you have to be at least 16 years of age, okay, uh U.S. citizen and live in the state of Maryland. So we do have individuals from Prince George's and Frederick County that serve as poll workers in Montgomery County. Uh, number two is you have to be registered uh in the state. Okay. Obviously, for those high school kids, the first time you will vote is as long as you're 18 by the general elections, which is kind of interesting because a 17-year-old could vote in the primaries as long as they turn 18 by November 3rd. Oh, wow. Yeah, so it's interesting. Yes. So that's kind of a little tidbit for our listeners and our viewerships. Okay. Um, but it's important that for those who want information, what they could do is text the word serve and their email. Serve andor email to 77788. And then the system will email you all the information about poll worker service. But you could go uh to our website at 777vote.org, 777vote.org, and all the information is there. Click the election worker tab, and you have a bunch of FAQs and next steps.
How 77788 Texting Tools Started
Derrick KennySo, what I'm hearing throughout this is that any type of information uh that you need or any type of registration you may need to execute um can be you can happen with your cell phone. You can put your cell phone 77788 plus the appropriate prompts. You can be a few steps away from registering to vote to um getting a job, temporary job as a poll worker to getting additional information, all these things. How did all this innovation come about? Like there's a quite a few things that are just not um assumed to have.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I think it was around 2018. I was driving, and you know, I have everyone has apps on their phones, and you get these notifications, and I'm like, oh, these notify, I'm getting another notification. I was, I think, near Target or something. Then I'm thinking, wait a second, if I could do this for us, for our voters, and we start exploring uh you know recognition to Tebs. Um, they're outstanding. There are our partners in Tibbs, technology and enterprise business solutions.
Derrick KennyYes, the technology department from Montgomery County, Maryland. Yes, that wonderful department, award-winning department.
SPEAKER_03Oh wow. Outstanding and we've won, you know, and we've won numbers, numerous awards. You could from DOJ, GAO, the Election Center, NACO, uh, IGO, the Texene Prompt. Uh, and one thing I I failed before before we like disappear is FuturoVote. We have a program called FuturoVote, Future Vote, yeah, which is our youth program uh that I started in 2004 when I joined the Board of Elections. You're talking about innovation. Yeah, it's kind of neat. Uh, we allow uh middle school kids uh to serve uh in our polling place. And ideally, when these students turn 16 years of age, we encourage them to become election workers, poll workers on election they are doing early voting. And an interesting tidbit, nationally, that we had those are like 3,200 counties, and we're considered a large county. The average age of poll workers is mid-60s, give and take. Montgomery County for the last since the 2020 elections, our poll worker age averages between 49 and 51. Oh, wow. Because about 10% of our poll workers are actual high school kids, 16 and 17-year-olds, and about 24% of our poll workers are under 25. So the future of has been a great recruitment tool. It teaches our youth about the process of voting, about the franchise, how to vote in Maryland. And then once they come of age, they have all the information, they have all the texting prompt and they know how to flexor constitutional right, especially if they join the military workforce or go to way to college. They know when and how to ask for their mail and ballot if they're not local.
Derrick KennyThat's awesome. That's called Future Vote. Future Vote.
Language Access And Disability Support
SPEAKER_03Everything's on our website, 777vote.org. And if you want more information, parents, guardians could text the letters F V. And your email to 77788 F V, and your email to 77788.
Derrick KennyAll right, all right. Um, it's such a diverse county and people with different um cultures, different um levels of ability, uh, different languages they speak natively. Um, what type of uh accommodations do you have for people with different disabilities or uh languages to ensure that they have a great and fulfilling experience voting in the county?
Same-Day Registration And Final Reminders
SPEAKER_03Great question. So, Montgomery County, we recognize, as you say, we're diverse. For many decades, we have three to the five most diverse cities in the country, right? Uh, but we always embrace it beyond section 203 of the 1975 Voter Rights Act, which requires us legally to have a Spanish-speaking poll worker in every single polling place and/or election uh early voting center. That's a legal requirement by the Department of Justice. However, we recognize and embrace the diversity. So through future vote and other activities such as this, we recruit individuals to serve in our polling places. So we have that language competency and also that cultural competency because the families, the poll workers, the voters, the students, they literally live and they are a reflection of their neighborhoods because they work in their local polling places. We also have the language line. Uh, we also have literature and information into different languages. Uh, we encourage and work with the Maryland State Board of Elections to translate the voter registration into mail-in applications into Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, uh, French, Spanish, and English. So we're always ahead of the curve. Uh, we we don't wait until law to mandate us to do the right thing. And I think being proactive within the community and we work with advocates. So if there's a church, a nonprofit, uh school organization, if you would like for us to do a demonstration, uh, bring us like you know, staff could come to talk about the process. We could do a Zoom session. Uh, on average, between elections, we do between four to 500 outreach events. We're very aggressive. I don't think anyone can touch us. I don't know of any other agency, not just Montgomery County, but at the statewide, we're very aggressive because every day someone's turning 16. Every day someone's becoming a naturalized citizen. Right. And there's no reason why they need to wait 45 days before election day to learn about the process.
Derrick KennyAll right. Now, now, what else should people know about voting in the county or something that you may need to reiterate that no matter how many times you tell us, someone's gonna forget. What are some of the things that you think you want to leave before we close out today?
SPEAKER_03Look, number one, if you if you're if you just woke up and dragged yourself out of a cage, you're hibernating and you realize there's an election, right? We do have something called same-day voter registration. So bring an ID, driver's license, a governmental document with your name and current Montgomery County address. So we will get you into the pipeline, register you, and you could vote. But for whatever reason, you just fell out the sky and you don't have an ID, we're not going to turn you away. You will vote a provisional ballot and we have safeguards, not only for the sanctity, you know, we want to keep the election sterile. We don't want individuals who should not be voting, voting. But at the same time, these safeguards will keep, uh, will allow us to afford you the opportunity to vote. And then we do our research, do our due diligence. And if we see that you are registered, you meet the state requirements to cast the ballot, we will submit your provisional ballot to the pro through the provisional canvas. And then what happens is then you will get to vote. One really quick tidbit regarding uh mail-in voting. A lot of people will select the print at home web delivery, which is essentially you get to print your ballot at home or at the office. Sounds glamorous, sounds very avant-garde, you know, this world of Amazon.com, everything. And you it's this whole issue of immediate gratification. We get it. If you want to vote that form, but keep in mind when we get that print at home mail-in ballot that the state board of elections sends you, our bipartisan teams will then need to transpose or copy your eight and a half by 11 sheet of paper onto the official cardstock ballot.
Derrick KennyOh, wow.
SPEAKER_03So there's another administrative process that we have to go through. So, you know, just to let you know, if you're printing it at home or at the office and it comes to us, we will need to transpose that into an official ballot. We get it. If you're doing research on Mount Calimanjaro or like in the Himalayas, we get it. Who knows? You got the internet, you got star, you know, Star Starlink or what it's called, and you download the application, right? The form, the ballot, and you send it to us. But most of a lot of our mail-in ballot voters are like Rockville and Gathensburg, Montgomery County. So, you know, just to let you know, we will need to touch your ballot and we will need to transpose it with our bipartisan team before we could scan it.
Derrick KennyAnd that's what's happening, Moco. You have all that you need to get out there and vote. Uh in the primary election is when?
SPEAKER_03So it's Tuesday, June 23rd, okay, 2026, from eight from 7 a.m. to eight. Then early votings from the 11th through the 18th. Okay. Uh, we have 14 early voting uh centers uh across Montgomery County.
Derrick KennyFantastic.
SPEAKER_03Drop boxes and mail-in ballots would be ready uh and circulating around Mother's Day through the 23rd of June.
Derrick KennyAnd the website?
SPEAKER_03777vote.org.
Derrick KennyAll right, and you've heard all here. So be sure to like, subscribe, and share this very important episode of the What's Happening Moco podcast to let all your friends, neighbors, colleagues, and whomever else know how to vote.
AnnouncerThanks for listening to What's Happening Moco. Please subscribe to your favorite podcast, and follow us on Facebook. This podcast is brought to you by County Cable Montgomery, your source for news and information from the Montgomery County government. Connect with us via cable, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube by searching for County Cable Moco.