BALTIMORE — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined the request of former Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox to review a judge’s decision allowing Maryland to count mail-in ballots before Election Day in November.

In a petition, Cox’s attorney argued a Montgomery County circuit judge incorrectly granted a State Board of Elections request in September to permit ballot counting as early as Oct. 1 to accommodate an expected deluge of mail-in ballots.

The Supreme Court listed Cox’s appeal Tuesday among a number of cases it declined without comment to hear. Cox recently was hired as the chief of staff for Pa. Sen. Doug Mastriano.

Cox, a former state delegate from Frederick County, has conceded the Nov. 8 election — won overwhelmingly by Democrat Wes Moore — and wasn’t challenging its outcome.

But his attorney, C. Edward Hartman III, argued in the Jan. 4 petition that Judge James A. Bonifant’s decision, which was upheld on appeal, was flawed.

Bonifant relied on language in Maryland election law that gives courts flexibility to protect the electoral process in emergencies. Cox’s petition said that language — and the court’s interpretation of it — is unconstitutional and that only the state Legislature can adjust election rules.

Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun wrote this story.

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