MD ballot error: Original mail-ins to be counted if replacements not returned

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Maryland’s elections administrator confirmed Thursday that after some incorrect ballots were sent out, they will still be counted if voters neglect to submit their replacement ballots.

“We want everyone to vote the replacement ballot, but … at the end of the day, if all we receive back is back is one ballot, we will count that ballot if it’s the correct ballot because that is a part of our standing policies that we’ve had with issuance of a replacement ballot,” Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis said during a virtual meeting of the Maryland State Board of Elections.

According to DeMarinis, the original ballots will be quarantined until after the June 23 primary election. At that, officials will determine if the ballot should be counted. If a second ballot is mailed in, that is the ballot that will be counted.

Earlier this month, the Maryland State Board of Elections confirmed that an error on the part of the state’s mail-in ballot vendor, Taylor Print & Visual Impressions, Inc., caused some voters to receive the wrong party ballot for the primary election.

“It was discovered at the time that the packing, or the inserting of the ballot packet with the envelope for a voter, that party identification was left off, thus making it a statewide problem,” DeMarinis said. However, he noted that because there was no ballot error in regard to individual voters’ counties or districts, the “majority of the original ballots were correct.”

But by that point, over 563,000 ballots had been requested — 447,000 of which were mail-in — and the state’s vendor could not properly identify which voters were sent incorrect ballots.

Due to the error, all mail-in voters are being issued new ballots, regardless of whether the one they received was incorrect.

A news release from the Maryland State Board of Elections stated that new ballots were sent to voters in Anne Arundel, Cecil, Charles, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Queen Anne’s and Washington counties Tuesday. Replacement ballots for voters in Baltimore, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Dorchester, Garrett, Kent, Prince George’s, St. Mary’s, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester counties — as well as Baltimore City — were mailed Wednesday.

DeMarinis said Thursday that Taylor Print & Visual Impressions, Inc. is bearing the cost of the replacement ballot materials. Maryland’s mail-in ballot director was on site during the process of reprinting and packaging.

“This idea of replacement ballots is not a new phenomenon,” DeMarinis said, noting that people often lose or spoil their ballots. “There is no, I would say, untoward or hidden conspiracy that has been promulgated around here.”

Still, the flub has gained national attention. 

President Donald Trump has making multiple posts to Truth Social, calling for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Maryland’s mail-in ballot error and using it as an opportunity to advocate for the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require voters to provide documentation to prove that they are U.S. citizens when they head to the polls 

A congressional committee sent a letter to DeMarinis on Tuesday, raising questions about facilitation of the June 23 primary in light of the issuance of the incorrect mail-in ballots.

“While the [State Board of Elections] is taking precautions to void the initial batch of ballots, distributing over half a million additional replacement ballots risks creating immense logistical strain and potentially undermines public confidence in the nation’s elections,” wrote U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-WI, chair of the Committee on House Administration. “These systemic errors raise concerns over pre-distribution auditing and state oversight of critical third-party contractors.”

In a Wednesday text message to The Daily Record, DeMarinis said he has been “open and transparent” about the error that caused the incorrect ballots to be sent.

“We have taken swift corrective actions to ensure all potentially affected voters receive a replacement mail-in ballot,” he wrote. “Mail-in voting remains a safe and secure voting method.”

In the letter, Steil and six other Republican members of the Committee on House Administration asked DeMarinis to provide answers to seven questions by June 9, including whether votes will be counted if voters only submit the first ballot.

The State Board of Elections said that original ballots should be destroyed. Reissued ballots should be returned in the envelope that indicates that they are replacement ballots. 

Local boards of election are to quarantine and organize the original set of ballots as they are returned. According to the State Board of Elections website, incorrect ballots have been voided in the voter registration system used to track and receive ballots.

People who plan to vote ahead of Election Day can submit their replacement ballots at drop boxes, early voting centers, local board of elections or through the mail as long as they are postmarked by June 23. Mail-in ballots can also be submitted at polling places on Election Day.

The Anne Arundel County Board of Elections experienced an error of its own this election season, when it was discovered that practice ballots for one of the county’s Democratic districts were printed incorrectly. 

Practice ballots are mailed out to allow voters to see what their official ballot will look like when they head to the polls on Election Day.

In an interview with The Daily Record, David Garreis, the elections director for Anne Arundel County, said one of the two-page practice ballots sent to voters in the 33rd legislative district displayed incorrect candidates. 

“Unfortunately, the ballot image on page two was showing candidates for legislative District 32,” Garreis said.

In an email Wednesday, Garreis said that the approximately 10,000 impacted voters should receive their new practice ballots soon. 

The error has no impact on ballots that will be utilized at the polls.

“They have been printed, checked, and are ready for Election Day,” Garreis wrote. “If the voter chooses to vote at an Early Voting site or an Election Day Polling Place, they will receive the correct ballot.”