Annapolis Board of Elections affirms 2025 primary election results after hand count

Annapolis election officials have affirmed the 2025 municipal primary election results, the City of Annapolis said Thursday.

The update followed a full hand count of ballots from the 2025 primary after a data entry error misreported totals in one ward, the city said.

The error was identified and corrected during the official canvass, and the certified results accurately reflect the votes cast. 

The hand count audit, which began at 10:00 a.m. at the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections office, included both in-person and mail-in/drop box ballots and was meant to verify the already election results.

The update comes a day after Jared Littmann defeated Rhonda Pindell Charles in the Annapolis Democratic mayoral primary election.

Data entry error caught during audit

An election night error misattributed votes to the incorrect candidates in Ward 6.   

"On election night, judges delivered vote totals to City Hall, where staff from the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections entered the numbers into a spreadsheet to prepare a summary sheet," Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said in a statement. "While the spreadsheet formulas were sound, a data entry error placed totals for Ward 6 candidates into the wrong row," Pittman added. 

Pittman said the mistake affected only Ward 6 contests and no other races.

The audit affirmed the certified results reported on Tuesday. Diesha Contee, who received 185 votes, won against Craig Cussimanio, who received 124 votes. 

Contee, a Democrat, will face Republican George Gallagher in November's General Election contest.

Future precautions 

Pittman said precautions to prevent similar errors in the future will be put in place.

"Moving forward, the Board of Elections will implement additional audit steps, including on-site verification of results at the County facility on election night, immediate tape audits by election judges, and more robust checks to catch any potential errors before releasing unofficial results," Pittman said.