MARYLAND (WBFF) — Starting Monday, June 1st, marks the first day mail-in ballots across the state will be canvassed for the 2026 primary elections, as local boards of election officials can begin the process of opening, reviewing, and counting the mail-in ballots already received.

Just last week, the Maryland State Board of Elections began sending out replacement mail-in ballots after an error assigned hundreds of thousands of residents to the wrong political party.

ALSO READ | Maryland State Board of Elections starts sending out corrected mail-in ballots after error

The Board of Elections has pointed the finger at its vendor, Taylor Print and Visual Impressions, Inc., for this error, but members of Congress and political analysts say more answers are needed on how this happened.

“A mail-in ballot error like this only leads to people getting into more conspiracy theories, election rigging, back to the 2020 talk all over again,” said Political analyst John Dedie.

Just a few days ago, FOX News Digital posted an interview with Maryland’s Lieutenant Governor, asking for a response to President Donald Trump’s calls for the Department of Justice to investigate the state’s mail-in ballots.

ALSO READ | Maryland Freedom Caucus calls mail-in ballot error a crisis, urges federal audit of rolls

“The administration is a separate body from the board of elections,” said Maryland Lt. Governor Aruna Miller. “It happens, sometimes Ballots get mailed the wrong way. It happens almost in every election. So we’ll see what the investigation shows…I don’t think it was in malice, in any bad way that this happened. I think it was just error by the vendor.”

Meanwhile, at the latest Maryland State Board of Elections meeting, Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis answered questions from board members if an outer investigation will take place following the election.

“We always do a lessons learned after every election,” said DeMarinis. “And this will be a part of our lessons learned, and we will, of course, be working with you know and getting more you know information about how to prevent this in the future, with it.”

DeMarinis adding…”we’ve been open and transparent about it. I don’t necessarily know what more of an investigation would shed light on.”

According to the Board, more than 500,000 voters requested mail-in ballots.

Without being able to identify who received the wrong party ballot, the board says all mail-in voters were sent replacements.

The Board is urging all voters to vote with the replacement ballot, adding safe guards are in place to ensure voting will not happen.

Since this error, a Congressional committee has reached out to the Board requesting a response by June 9th.

ALSO READ | Congressional committee members want answers about Maryland’s mail-in ballot mistake

FOX45 spoke with Republican Congressman Morgan Griffith of Virginia. Griffith said, “We will be keeping an eye on it because we have concerns we want to make sure that the federal elections, state folks can do whatever in the state or local elections, but in the federal elections it’s our job to make sure that voters are getting an opportunity to vote that they’re not being disenfranchised by some accident or intentional act.”

Political analysts also tell FOX45 that more answers are needed to ensure voter confidence.

“There needs to be more answers and possibly a hearing on this,” said Dedie. “Not wait till next year when they’re back in Annapolis after the election.

For now, anyone who has questions on this error and the next steps, the Board is urging you to contact them or go to their website.

Some small- and minority-owned businesses in Maryland will be able to get some investment help from the state.

That’s because Gov. Wes Moore announced that the $3 million in financial help, which his office said, will help small- and minority-owned businesses create 72 new jobs and retain 28 more.

It’s part of an investment created by the DECADES Act passed by the General Assembly earlier this year.

The money can be used to help those businesses buy new equipment, purchase real estate and fund working capital.

Moore said in a statement that the state “must ensure that every entrepreneur has a fair shot at success.”

“This investment through the Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority, bolstered by the DECADE Act of 2026, is a testament to our commitment to creating equitable pathways to work, wages, and wealth for our small and minority-owned businesses,” the governor added.

In the fiscal years between 2021 and 2025, the state’s small business development financing authority helped 2,450 jobs by utilizing $33 million in loans and equity investments, Moore’s office said in a release.

State Commerce Secretary Harry Coker Jr. said “Maryland is focused on creating an equitable, robust, and competitive economy,” which he said starts with supporting small businesses.

“We’re grateful to these small businesses for creating new job opportunities in Maryland and look forward to watching them grow throughout the state,” Coker Jr. said.

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