Maryland Lt Gov rejects Trump’s corruption claims over mail-in voting error: ‘It happens’

Maryland Lt Gov rejects Trump's corruption claims over mail-in voting error: 'It happens'

Miller says the board of elections is independent from the governor and plans to send new ballots to all affected voters

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Maryland Lt. Gov. defends ballot error response as Trump seeks DOJ investigation

Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller rejects President Donald Trump's allegations of corruption tied to the state's mail-in ballot error and says election-administration mistakes happen "almost every election."

Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller pushed back on President Donald Trump’s call for a Justice Department investigation into a state mail-in ballot error, rejecting allegations of corruption and arguing election administration mistakes occur in almost "every election."

Trump called for the DOJ to open an investigation into some Maryland voters receiving incorrect mail-in ballots for the upcoming primary elections, after election officials admitted to an error by the state’s election board.This prompted Trump to put the blame on Democrat Gov. Wes Moore, accusing him of corruptly interfering with the election process to ensure a win for Democrats.

The Maryland State Board of Elections announced that it had been "made aware of an error by our mail-in ballot vendor," Taylor Print & Visual Impressions (TPVI), Inc.

TRUMP CALLS FOR DOJ PROBE INTO MARYLAND MAIL-IN BALLOT ERROR, SUSPECTING 'CORRUPT' GOV. WES MOORE TIES

"This was done by the Corrupt Governor of the State, Wes Moore," Trump wrote on Truth Social May 18. "He allowed this to happen in order to make sure that Democrats win.

Miller told Fox News Digital that the Maryland State Board of Elections operates independently from the governor's administration and characterized ballot-distribution errors as a recurring issue in election administration.

Maryland Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller pushed back on President Donald Trump's allegations of corruption tied to the state's recent mail-in ballot error after Trump called for a Justice Department investigation into the incident. (om Williams/CQ Roll Call; Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"The administration, they’re a separate body from us, the board of elections," Miller said.

"And it happens, sometimes," she continued. "Ballots get mailed the wrong way. It happens almost in every election.

While election administration errors have occurred in Maryland, including a voter-roll software glitch in 2018, there is no publicly available evidence showing that incorrect mail ballots are an "every election" occurrence.

The state elections board will send out new ballots to all voters who were mailed one before May 14, acknowledging that many voters receiving new ballots may not have been affected by the mishap.

The state elections board said there was "no risk of duplicate voting as a result of this issue," claiming the state has safeguards in place to avoid this from happening.

Trump also questioned how the issue would be resolved without any potential threat of duplicate voting.

POLITICAL STINK: MARYLAND GOV. WES MOORE CALLS TRUMP’S SEWAGE SPILL BLAME ‘ABSURD'

President Donald Trump called for the DOJ to open an investigation into some Maryland voters receiving incorrect mail-in ballots for the upcoming primary elections. (Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images)

"In Maryland, they sent out 500,000 Illegal Mail In Ballots, and they got caught!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "So now, they’re going to send out 500,000 more Mail In Ballots, but nobody knows what’s happening with the first 500,000 they sent."

"In addition, many of these Ballots went to Democrats, so any Republican running in Maryland doesn’t have a chance!"

Miller rejected the idea that this issue was intentional or was the result of corruption within the state.

"I don’t think it was in malice, in any bad way that this happened," she told Fox News Digital. "I think it was just error by the vendor."

State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis also denied Trump’s claim that any "illegal" ballots were distributed.

MARYLAND BALLOT BLUNDER TRIGGERS GOP PUSH FOR FEDERAL REVIEW OF BLUE STATE'S VOTER ROLLS

Maryland State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis has defended the state elections board's response to an unspecified number of Maryland residents receiving the wrong mail-in ballot. (Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service)

Trump said he has asked Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department to investigate the ballot error, but the DOJ has not publicly announced the opening of an investigation.

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Miller also said that she has not had any information shared with her by the DOJ into what the investigation will entail.

"We’ll see what the investigation shows," Miller said.

Hannah Brennan is a Digital Production Assistant on the Politics team. She previously interned at the Aspen Daily News, where she covered local government meetings, community developments, cultural events and nationally significant political events. Her reporting included coverage of the Aspen Security Forum and appearances by prominent leaders such as former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. She graduated early with high distinction from the University of Colorado Boulder in December 2025 and joined Fox News Digital in January 2026.

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