CAMBRIDGE — Dorchester County voters backed Donald Trump for the second time, the county’s Board of Elections reported on Tuesday night.
The incumbent and his running mate Mike Pence beat Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, 7,804 to 5,295 for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, or 58.2 percent to 39.5 percent. These numbers and all those following include early voting, Election Day and mail votes, though not provisional ballots.
Early voting and mail ballots released late Tuesday evening had a slightly closer gap, with President Trump still in the lead, 5,399-4,142, or 55.6 percent to 42.6 percent.

National race
By mid-day Wednesday, the tally of electoral votes had been stalled for about 12 hours, as tight contests in states including the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin continued to unfold. Joe Biden maintained a narrow lead in electoral votes — depending on which source had, unofficially, called the results in certain states, Biden was ahead by at least nine electoral votes. By noon on Wednesday, Biden was ahead in the popular vote, 69,866,826-67,233,023.
More populous districts in several states continued to count votes, while many mail-in ballots also remained uncounted, leaving the result of the election uncertain. The process could take days to determine, possibly followed by court challenges.
Maryland went with Biden/Harris by a nearly 2-1 margin, 1,354,795-752,818, or 62.9%-34.9%.

Other parties
In Dorchester County:
Libertarians Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy Spike Cohen earned 143 votes, Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker of the Greens brought in 90, and Jerome Segal and John de Graaf of Bread and Roses received 39 votes.

Congress District 1
In Dorchester County:
Early and mail voting had Congressional District 1 Republican incumbent Andy Harris ahead of Democrat Mia Mason, 5,698-3,862, or 59.5 percent to 40.3 percent. With Election Day ballots added, Rep. Harris stood at 8,198-4,977, or 62.1% to 37.7%.
Statewide:
Rep. Harris won re-election, 212,118-103,888, or 67%-32.8%. There were 554 write-ins, or 0.2%

Judges
In Dorchester County:
Appellate Circuit 1 Brynja Booth received 9,029 votes to continue in office, versus 2,255 against.
Court of Special Appeals at Large E. Gregory Wells received 9,218, with 1,959 against.
Court of Special Appeals Christopher B. Kehoe received 9,097 for, 2,058 against.

Board of Education
District 1, Mike Diaz received 1,763, Phil Bramble 1,060
District 3, Susan Morgan 1,909, Philip W. Rice 863
District 5, Laura Layton 1,620, Voncia Molock 827

High participation
Participation was high throughout election season in Maryland, as record numbers of voters cast their ballots by mail, early in person, and on Tuesday, Election Day.
Lines were seen in Dorchester all week at the County Office Building, the only early voting polling place. A steady stream of citizens visited Tuesday’s sites at North and Cambridge-South Dorchester high schools, and the County Building.
Dorchester County’s tally of mail-in ballots indicated high involvement for Democrats, with 2,694 received by the State Board of Election, versus 1,185 for Republicans and 515 for Others. The total of mail-in ballots from Dorchester was 4,394.
This year’s contest between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump has generated unique enthusiasm among voters. In mail-in balloting, the county’s Democrats led Republicans, 2,694 to 1,185, with 515 votes going to other candidates.
In 2016, Dorchester chose Trump over Clinton, 8,413 to 6,245, including all ballots. In 2016, Maryland chose Hillary Clinton by 1,667,928, to Donald Trump’s 943,169.

Counting continues
The MSBE reassured and cautioned citizens on Monday, saying, “It is important for voters to recognize that all properly cast ballots will be counted in the election’s official results. Due to the variety of ways ballots are being submitted this year, some voters’ ballots will not show on the state’s online ballot tracker as counted until after Election Day. For example, properly completed mail-in ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 will be accepted until Nov. 13. Properly completed ballots placed in authorized ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. on November 3 will also be accepted; however, based on when ballots are submitted and the overall volume of ballots received, some ballots will not show on the online tracker as having been counted until after Election Day.”

“Some voters will understandably be concerned that a ballot they submitted prior to Election Day is not showing as counted on the ballot tracker by Nov. 3,” State Board of Elections Administrator Linda Lamone said. “Marylanders should be assured that, if a ballot was properly completed and submitted by the deadline, it will be counted in the election’s official results. While media outlets may ‘call’ the election on election night, that determination is not based on an official count of ballots received. Due to the nature of this election, counting will continue for some time after Election Day."
“We have to prepare for the very strong probability that an election unlike any other we’ve ever had might take a little longer to accurately count with integrity,” Executive Director of the The Center for Election Innovation & Research David Becker said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “More time being taken to report results is not an indication of a problem.”