President Donald Trump has called for the Department of Justice to open an investigation into the state of Maryland for sending out mail-in ballots to individuals of the incorrect political party ahead of the state’s closed primary elections.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) May 18, 2026
#BREAKING: Trump demands DOJ probe into Maryland voting, allegedly 500,000 illegal mail-in ballots were issued.
— Insider Wire (@InsiderWire) May 18, 2026
After the mistake, the Maryland Board of Elections made the decision to mail out additional correct ballots despite having no ability to indicate which ballots were originally sent out incorrectly. Elections officials have not publicly released a plan for how to invalidate the original ballots.
Dan Cox, a candidate in the gubernatorial race, criticized the decision as it created an environment for “doubling the potential for vote fraud via mail in ballots.”
BREAKING: It is being reported the MD BOE will be mailing new ballots to all mail in voters due to an alleged “mistake,” thus effectively doubling the potential for vote fraud via mail in ballots. I am committed to learning how the Md Board of Elections plans to ensure no…
— Dan Cox (@dancox4maryland) May 16, 2026
Trump’s statement laid the blame at the feet of Maryland’s Democrat Governor Wes Moore, saying that the move was “to make sure that Democrats win.”
“In addition, many of these Ballots went to Democrats, so any Republican running in Maryland doesn’t have a chance,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “This was done by the Corrupt Governor of the State, Wes Moore. He allowed this to happen in order to make sure that Democrats win. It never made sense to me that Maryland was considered an automatic Democrat State, but now I see why. I’m sure this has gone on for years.”
“I’m going to ask the Attorney General of the United States, and the DOJ, to bring an immediate investigation into this situation,” Trump added.
The Maryland primary elections will be held on June 23.