Maryland elections head: Original ballots will count if replacement isn't sent

BALTIMORE - Maryland's top elections administrator on Thursday urged voters to cast their replacement ballots, adding that the state Board of Elections can guarantee the ballots are accurate. But state officials will still count the original mailed ballot if the replacement isn't sent. The agency also didn't explain how it will verify which ballots are valid after thousands of voters received incorrect mail-in ballots earlier this month.

Before the elections board members' virtual meeting Thursday afternoon, officials had said that only replacement ballots would be counted during the upcoming June 23 primary elections.

"At the end of the day, if all we receive back is one ballot, we will count that ballot if it's the correct ballot," Jared DeMarinis, the state's top elections administrator, said. He added that replacement ballots were mailed by Wednesday to all voters who received the wrong ballots, and the board expects all voters to receive their ballots by Monday.

DeMarinis said the elections board will continue its usual ballot-counting process. If a voter casts their original ballot, which must be postmarked by June 23, the board will hold it as it normally would until the last day that it accepts mail-in ballots. Then, the agency will count it along with all other ballots received. If a voter casts their replacement ballot after having already sent the original one, the board will quarantine, or keep, both ballots, but only count the replacement.

When asked whether the error warranted an independent investigation, DeMarinis said that the board has been open and transparent.

"There's always lessons learned after every election, and this will be a part of our lessons learned," he said. "I don't necessarily know what more of an investigation would shed light on, but we'll be reviewing and refining our processes."

The Baltimore Sun asked the elections board how it will verify which ballots have been cast correctly and why the board changed its position on counting original ballots. The board did not return an immediate request for comment.

The ballot error affected voters who requested physical mail-in ballots for the primaries. The Maryland State Board of Elections said its vendor, Taylor Print and Visual Impressions Inc. (TPVI), mailed some of the voters' ballots for the wrong political party, but the administrator said the board's vendor couldn't identify which voters received erroneous ballots. Over 500,000 Maryland voters had requested mail-in ballots, most of them in Montgomery, Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, and Baltimore City. Election officials also said that TPVI will cover the full cost of replacement ballots and voter notification postcards.

In light of the elections board's meeting, one campaign said it's considering calling for DeMarinis to be removed from his post.

"This is causing so much confusion now," Mark McLaurin, Quincy Bareebe's campaign manager, told The Sun. Bareebe is running for Congress in Maryland's 5th District, which includes parts of Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties and all of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's counties.

"If campaign practitioners don't know, how the heck are the voters supposed to figure it out?" McLaurin added.

Candidates, including Bareebe, in competitive races from both parties have also spent thousands on voter outreach, concerned that ballot errors could hurt their chances.

The error prompted calls for investigation from Republican officials. State GOP leaders urged a federal audit of Maryland's voter rolls. President Donald Trump called on the Justice Department to investigate the error, alleging, without evidence, that Democrats were rigging elections. Congressional Republicans also requested that the state elections board provide details about oversight protocol and how the error will be handled.

The White House did not return an immediate request for comment.

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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 7:11 PM.