Trump uses MD mail-in ballot error to advocate for SAVE Act

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President Donald Trump pointed to incorrect mail-in ballots in Maryland as reason to advocate for the passage of strict voting rights legislation, prompting a state elections official to accuse him of distributing misinformation.

“Maryland just had 500,000 Fake Mail-In Ballots revealed,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday. “We cannot, as a Country, put up with this any longer!!! Voter I.D., and Proof of Citizenship, must be approved, NOW. Crooked Mail-In Voting must be stopped!!!”

In response, Maryland Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis said in several posts on the social media platform X on Sunday that “NO Fake Mail-in ballots were distributed” and that the language used by the president seeks to “mislead, sow distrust and create misinformation.”

“It is vital for voters and the public to get accurate information and the facts regarding mail-in voting and the electoral process,” DeMarinis wrote. “That’s why the trusted source of MD election information is SBE and me rather than a social media influencer.”

A Friday news release from the Maryland State Board of Elections confirmed that an error on the part of Taylor Print & Visual Impressions, Inc., Maryland’s mail-in ballot vendor, led to some voters receiving the wrong party ballot for the June 23 primary election.

In a Friday statement, Taylor Print & Visual Impressions said that upon recognizing the error, it began working with the elections board “to investigate the cause, implement corrective actions, and support the timely delivery of accurate materials to affected voters.”

“We have implemented additional quality control and verification measures to help prevent this type of issue from occurring in the future,” the statement reads.

The only voters impacted are those who were sent ballots before Thursday. Mail-in ballots began to be sent out on May 9 for voters who requested them on or before May 6.

A Monday news release from the State Board of Elections said that a coding issue resulted in the error and that Taylor Print & Visual Impressions was unable to identify who received incorrect ballots. 

It is unclear how many voters did not receive correct ballots. Requests for comment from both DeMarinis and the State Board of Elections were not immediately returned. According to the Friday news release from the board, more than 500,000 Maryland voters requested mail-in ballots.

Because of the error, all mail-in voters — regardless of whether they received a correct ballot — must be issued new ballots. The error does not impact voters who requested print-at-home ballots.

Production of the replacement ballots will begin Tuesday and are to be sent out no later than May 29. Envelopes with new ballots will read “REPLACEMENT BALLOT INSIDE.”

The elections board said Monday that postcards informing all mail-in voters of the error will be sent to the addresses at which they requested their ballots. Voters who opted to receive emails and text messages from the board will also be notified electronically. 

Original ballots should be destroyed, the board said. Reissued ballots should be returned in the envelope that indicates that they are replacement ballots.

According to the State Board of Elections website, incorrect ballots, if returned, have been voided in the voter registration system used to track and receive ballots.

“SBE will utilize existing practices that prevent voters from having more than one ballot counted,” the board said Monday. “As with all facets of the electoral process, there are additional safeguards to ensure only the correct ballot is being counted for each voter.”

Regardless of the statements from DeMarinis and the elections board issued last week, Trump used the error to push for the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act, which would require voters to provide documentation to prove that they are U.S. citizens when they head to the polls. 

The SAVE Act has passed out of the House of Representatives but has yet to be approved in the Senate.