Maryland ballot blunder sparks House GOP probe ahead of primary

FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans are demanding answers after a recent mail-in ballot error resulted in some Maryland voters receiving primary ballots for the wrong party.

The GOP lawmakers said additional transparency from the state elections board is warranted.

"While the SBOE is taking precautions to void the initial batch of ballots, distributing over half a million additional replacement ballots risks creating immense logistical strain and potentially undermines public confidence in the nation's elections," they wrote. 

The House Administration Committee Republicans asked Maryland State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis to respond to the committee's questions by June 9.

Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., Greg Murphy, R-N.C., Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., Mike Carey, R-Ohio, and Mary Miller, R-Ill., also signed the letter.

A spokesperson for the state elections board said the office will "provide a timely and thorough response" to the committee's questions. 

"The State Administrator has been open and transparent about the vendor error that caused the transmission of wrong party ballots to mail-in voters," the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "We have taken swift corrective actions to ensure all potentially affected voters receive a replacement mail-in ballot.  Mail-in voting remains a safe and secure voting method."

DeMarinis has repeatedly defended the state's response to the vendor error and spoke positively about its mail-in voting practices, arguing they are "an integral facet of the electoral process." 

"With over 500,000 voters requesting mail-in ballots, we want to eliminate any doubt in their integrity or accuracy; that is why I have arranged the sending of replacement ballots," he said in a statement last week.

DeMarinis said Friday that replacement ballots had started to be mailed. 

"In response, the RNC and Maryland GOP are expanding our Protect the Vote operations with voter hotlines, legal oversight, and voter education statewide," RNC Chairman Joe Gruters previously told Fox News Digital.

A spokesperson for Moore did not immediately respond to a request for comment.