State ballot mix-up sparks calls for DeMarinis’ resignation in Baltimore

A printing and coding mistake in Maryland’s mail voting system has left some Baltimore voters facing a confusing rule: the first ballot they received may still be counted if no replacement arrives, even though election officials are telling them to use the second one.

That contradiction is now at the center of a widening fight over trust in the June 23 primary and over Jared DeMarinis, the state election administrator who has come under pressure as critics call for his resignation. Maryland officials said the error affected some voters who were mailed the wrong party ballot for the 2026 Gubernatorial Primary Election, but only those whose ballots went out before May 14. Voters who used print-at-home, web-delivered ballots were not affected.

The Maryland State Board of Elections said the problem came from an error in the printing and coding process tied to its mail-in ballot vendor. Because officials could not identify which specific voters got the wrong ballot, all mail-in voters were issued new ballots. Replacement mailings began May 22 and were completed May 27, with the new packets expected to arrive between May 26 and May 31. The board also said voters who requested mail-in ballots after May 13 would face a slight delay, with those ballots mailed starting June 3.

The scale is large. As of May 5, the state board said 565,639 voters had requested mail-in ballots for the primary, a level of use that makes any mailing error especially disruptive in Baltimore City and across Maryland. The board instructed affected voters to vote the ballot marked “REPLACEMENT BALLOT INSIDE,” return it in the envelope marked “REPLACEMENT ENVELOPE,” and destroy the first ballot packet. Officials also said local election offices can identify the original ballots and secure them.

That security step has become a flashpoint. According to DeMarinis, the original ballots will be quarantined until after the June 23 primary, then officials will determine whether they should be counted. State election officials have also said that if a voter returns only one ballot, the local office can identify the original ballot and count it if it is the correct ballot under standing replacement-ballot policy. If both ballots are returned, the replacement ballot will be the one counted.

The Maryland Freedom Caucus called the problem a crisis and pushed for federal scrutiny, including a request that Maryland’s voter rolls be released for an audit. Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on House Administration also sent DeMarinis questions and set a June 9 deadline for answers. The vendor, Taylor Print & Visual Impressions, Inc., said it would bear the cost of the replacement materials, but the damage to confidence is harder to price: in a city that depends heavily on mail voting, the bigger issue is whether voters can trust that every valid ballot will be treated the same.