Prince George's County ballot error renews election oversight scrutiny
BALTIMORE - The Prince George's County Board of Elections recently acknowledged that many voters did not receive specimen ballots until after early voting had already begun because of printing errors, depriving some voters of the opportunity to review candidates and ballot questions before casting ballots.
Specimen ballots are informational copies mailed before voting begins so residents can familiarize themselves with the ballot. Democratic lawmakers have asked the board to explain what went wrong and how it plans to prevent similar problems in future elections. The county's board did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The delayed specimen ballots are the latest in a series of election administration mistakes ahead of Maryland's primary election that have drawn criticism from Republicans and Democrats and renewed scrutiny of the state's election operations.
The list includes incorrect party ballots mailed to hundreds of thousands of voters, duplicate ballots sent to more than 100 voters on June 12, and printing errors affecting thousands of voters in Anne Arundel County last month. Election experts say there is no evidence that the mistakes affected election outcomes or indicate widespread voter fraud.
Democratic candidates and Republican lawmakers said repeated mistakes can undermine confidence in election administration, though they differ sharply on the causes and implications.
Harry Dunn, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer running in Maryland's 5th Congressional District Democratic primary, said the repeated mistakes are "unacceptable," and that the state "cannot continue to have these mistakes happen." Dunn is one of several Democrats competing to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer.
"People need to be able to have faith in our elections, that they are safe, which I believe that they are," Dunn told The Baltimore Sun. "(But) I do believe that there are errors. But I don't believe that there's any malicious intent behind it."
Harry Jarin, a candidate also running in the 5th District Democratic race, shared that sentiment, emphasizing that the errors risk giving credibility to false claims that elections are rigged.
"My concern is that any sort of minor snafus with the process are being magnified by Republicans to intentionally undermine confidence in the election system and particularly in mail-in ballots," Jarin said, referring to some Republicans still saying the 2020 presidential election results were inaccurate.
Quincy Bareebe, another candidate, said she supports an independent investigation into the causes of repeated ballot and election administration errors.
Some Republicans note that repeated administrative mistakes risk undermining voter confidence and participation.
The Maryland Freedom Caucus and election watchdog group Secure The Vote MD on Thursday demanded that the Maryland State Board of Elections release its voter records to the federal Justice Department and conduct a comprehensive audit of its processes, among other items.
Del. Lauren Arikan, a Republican, told The Sun that while there's no evidence of widespread voter fraud, "we can't say one way or the other whether the elections are secure."
In response to bipartisan criticism, DeMarinis said he will appear before the General Assembly if lawmakers request a hearing, but added that he doesn't understand what critics are calling for.
"I don't understand what they're calling for," DeMarinis told The Sun. "Isn't that either the General Assembly or my board, (which) is independent of me? They hire and fire me. They are well aware of contract management because we put it in the state administrator's report."
Maryland election officials have also dealt with several high-profile mistakes in recent election cycles.
In 2024, the Baltimore City Board of Elections mistakenly counted an extra 590 votes on Election Day, an error that led to misleading results in the contest for the Baltimore City Council's 11th District, among others.
In 2022, Baltimore City's elections board also discovered that about 750 voters were assigned to the wrong legislative districts after redistricting changes. At the same time, about 10,000 voters in Prince George's County received incorrect sample ballots because of a printing error.
Campaign strategists said the mistakes create additional work for campaigns, which often must spend time and money explaining ballot issues to voters. Erik Robey, a Republican strategist, said the GOP is still concerned about how ballot errors affect election outcomes, but he maintains that Maryland elections are still free and fair because race predictions often match the outcome.
"As consultants, we do polls all the time. (Although) voters are concerned that there are major irregularities, I don't think that you see anything like that here in Maryland because we poll these races constantly," Robey said. "What we see in the polls 90% of the time, 95% of the time on primary election day is exactly what happens."
Still, Robey said he would support independent reviews of election administration processes to identify and correct recurring mistakes.
Election law experts noted that multiple errors show a need for increased funding for election boards.
"We have left election administration mainly to states and local governments, and because of that, they're often underfunded," Donald Tobin, a professor at the University of Maryland's Carey School of Law, said. "If you think about a local government that's having to fund election administration, the people don't see that the same way they see police or fire or roads or other things."
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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 6:45 PM.