Trump jabs Gov. Wes Moore over Maryland ballot mix up, pushes for probe

President Donald Trump is seeking a federal investigation into a Maryland mail-in ballot mix-up as he again lashes out at the state's Democratic governor and targets a form of voting he frequently criticizes.

Some voters received a mail ballot for the wrong party ahead of the June 23 primary election, the Maryland State Board of Elections said last week. As a result of the vendor error, all of the ballots are being replaced. More than 500,000 Maryland voters requested mail ballots.

Trump said in a May 18 social media post that he is asking Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche "to bring an immediate investigation into this situation." He seized on the incident to continue his long-running criticism of mail-in voting and raise unsubstantiated claims about the Maryland election and Gov. Wes Moore.

"Many of these Ballots went to Democrats, so any Republican running in Maryland doesn’t have a chance!" Trump wrote. "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."

The governor's Press Secretary Ammar Moussa said Trump's comments are "false and irresponsible."

"The State Board of Elections identified a vendor error, disclosed it publicly, and is fixing it to ensure every eligible voter receives a valid ballot and every valid vote is counted," Moussa added.

Trump also highlighted the Maryland ballot issue in a May 17 social media post, prompting state election administrator Jared DeMarinis to respond that the president is trying to "mislead, sow distrust and create misinformation."

"The action taken for reissuance of ballots eliminates any doubt about the integrity or accuracy of mail-in voting," DeMarinis added.

Trump continued to raise concerns about the Maryland election − and mail voting, in general − during a May 18 White House event. He questioned whether the original mail ballots that the state sent out could “infect” the voting, even as state officials maintained that the issue has been resolved in a way that preserves the integrity of the vote.  

“Mail-in ballot is by just the nature of it, it’s going to be corrupt,” Trump said.

The president used mail-in voting to cast his own ballot this year but has sought to crack down on the practice, signing an executive order recently that asserted more federal control of such ballots. The order, which escalated the president's bid to place new restrictions on voting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, is being challenged in court.

Moore, the nation's only Black governor and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has been targeted by Trump repeatedly in recent months. The president blamed him for a massive sewage spill and excluded him from a historically bipartisan governors' meeting at the White House.

Contributing: Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY