President Donald Trump on Monday accused Maryland officials, including Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, of illegally sending hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots to voters in an effort ensure victory for Democrats.
He made the claim on Truth Social and repeated it later in the day during a healthcare affordability event at the White House, saying he would ask the U.S. attorney general and the Justice Department to investigate.
The accusation came after a recent vendor error made it necessary to send replacement ballots to some voters ahead of Maryland’s 2026 gubernatorial primary in June.
Here's a closer look at the facts.
TRUMP: “In Maryland, they sent out 500,000 Illegal Mail In Ballots, and they got caught! 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! 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 FACTS: This is false. No illegal mail-in ballots were sent to voters. The Maryland State Board of Elections said some voters received a primary ballot for the wrong party due to a vendor error. Voters who may have been affected will receive a replacement ballot and any of the original ballots already sent to election offices will be voided. Voters have been instructed to destroy their original ballots if they have not yet returned them.
Safeguards such as unique identifiers on ballot envelopes ensure that each voter can only vote once. Additionally, the error won't give one party an advantage over the other. In Maryland, Republicans and Democrats vote in separate primaries to determine who their candidates will be in the general election.
“It bears repeating that no fake OR illegal mail-in ballots were distributed,” Jared DeMarinis, Maryland's state administrator of elections, wrote in an X post Monday night. “The wording in President Trump’s continued posts about Maryland’s elections creates an environment of misinformation on a voting right. Mail-in voting is not a partisan issue. Mail-in voting is legal.”
DeMarinis further clarified, “Maryland elections are administered, supervised and managed by the bipartisan State Board of Elections — not the Governor.” DeMarinis said he is “the chief State election official in charge of implementing and conducting the election.”
Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Moore, called Trump's statement “false and irresponsible” and said, “Marylanders should look to the State Board of Elections for accurate information — not social media misinformation designed to undermine confidence in our elections.”
Asked for comment, the White House directed The Associated Press to Trump's aforementioned Truth Social post.
Only voters who were mailed a ballot before May 14 are affected, according to the state's Board of Elections. The board did not specify how many voters were affected, what party they belong to, or how many replacement ballots are being sent out. Neither the board nor the vendor — Taylor Print & Visual Impressions Inc. — responded to requests seeking those numbers. DeMarinis said in a statement Friday, “With over 500,000 voters requesting mail-in ballots, we want to eliminate any doubt in its integrity or accuracy.”
The board decided that all voters who may have been affected would be sent a replacement ballot because the vendor could not accurately identify which voters had received the correct one and which had not. Such voters will receive a postcard alerting them that a new ballot is on its way, as well as an email and a text if they have opted in to those communications. The new ballot will come in an envelope stating “REPLACEMENT BALLOT INSIDE” and the return envelope will be labeled as a “REPLACEMENT ENVELOPE.”
Voters who receive a replacement ballot have been instructed not to use the original ballot they received and to return the replacement ballot in the correct envelope so that their vote is counted. The board expects the mailing of replacement ballots, which will occur on a rolling basis, to be completed by May 29.
Mark Lindeman, policy and strategy director at Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group focused on election technology, explained that “nobody can vote twice” in the upcoming election because “each returned mail ballot envelope is authenticated against voter records before the ballot is accepted and counted.” Plus, he said, the error isn't expected to make much of an impact — especially on the general election.
“Given how quickly the error was discovered, it is unlikely to have even a small effect on the primary election over a month from now. Beyond that, it cannot possibly affect the general election, so Trump’s claim that ‘any Republican running in Maryland doesn’t have a chance!’ makes no sense. It fits into a pattern of baseless, unworthy attacks on U.S. elections and election officials.”
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
President Donald Trump speaks about prescription drug prices in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Monday, May 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
After nearly seven years away from the big screen, a new Star Wars movie drew healthy but not record-breaking crowds to global theaters this weekend. According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” made $82 million in ticket sales from 4,300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. By the end of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, it’s expected to have earned $102 million domestically and $165 million globally.
It exceeded opening weekend expectations for the movie, a continuation of Disney+ spinoff series “The Mandalorian,” but it’s also on the low end of Disney-era Star Wars releases, closer to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which made $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame in 2018. While “Solo” was considered a disaster, the metrics around “The Mandalorian and Grogu” are a little different.
The production budget for “Solo” was in the $300 million range, while “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was made for significantly less — a reported $165 million, not accounting for marketing and promotion costs. It makes the journey to profitability more likely, especially when factoring in positive audience scores. Although critics were mixed to negative on the movie (it currently carries a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes), ticket buyers overall gave it an A- CinemaScore. Boys under the age of 13 are especially high on the movie: They gave it an A CinemaScore and a perfect five on PostTrak. Parents also gave it a five out of five.
The Jon Favreau-directed movie stars Pedro Pascal as the titular bounty hunter and puts him and his tiny green companion on a mission to save Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt, who is voiced by Jeremy Allen White.
“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” could also be graded on a bit of a curve because of the streaming component, both that it started as a series, and that it will eventually end up as a value add on Disney+, which was only about a month old when the last Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker,” debuted in December 2019.
Star Wars as a brand is in a time of transition under its new leadership team of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan; Earlier this year it was announced that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who produced “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” was stepping down after 13 years. The question for the industry is whether audience interest in Star Wars on the big screen might have cooled slightly, and if next year’s “Star Wars: Starfighter,” starring Ryan Gosling, will provide a definitive answer. Until then, the hope is that strong audience and exit scores will propel word-of-mouth generated enthusiasm in the coming weeks.
“The moviegoers rule," said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. "I think given the audience reaction and the scores that are coming from parents and kids, this is going to be in it for the long haul."
Word-of-mouth certainly helped Curry Barker’s relationship horror movie “Obsession” defy the standard box office trajectory and do better business in its second weekend. The Focus Features had an astonishing 30% uptick in ticket sales, earning $22.4 million from 2,655 theaters.
“That’s really unheard of,” Dergarabedian said. “And it is a testament to how this social media buzz from younger viewers is fueling the FOMO factor."
The studio, which acquired the microbudget movie for some $15 million, is projecting that it will have made $28.2 million by the end of Monday, bringing its running total to $58.5 million. It snagged the second-place spot, while “Michael” landed in third place with $20 million for the three-day weekend. The Michael Jackson biopic has now earned $782.4 million.
“Obsession” also did better than the new horror movie “Passenger,” a Paramount Pictures release with Melissa Leo, which grossed an estimated $8.7 million from 2,534 locations. It’s expected to earn $10.5 million over its first four days. The movie received poor reviews from both critics (44% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (B- Cinema Score).
Boots Riley's colorful shoplifting caper meets surreal social satire “I Love Boosters” also opened this weekend to $3.7 million. The Neon release stars Keke Palmer and Demi Moore.
The mix of movies this year didn’t hold a candle to last year’s record Memorial Day weekend, which was led by Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” The overall four-day frame this year will net out around $211 million, down about 36% from last year’s $330 million. It’s also far from the disastrous 2024 Memorial Day weekend box office, a 30-year low, when “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” opened.
With final domestic figures being released Tuesday, this list factors in estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” $82 million.
2. “Obsession,” $22.4 million.
3. “Michael,” $20 million.
4. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” $12.6 million.
5. “The Sheep Detectives,” $9 million.
6. “Passenger,” $8.7 million.
7. “Mortal Kombat II,” $6.2 million.
8. “I Love Boosters,” $3.7 million.
9. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $3.2 million.
10. “Project Hail Mary,” $2.7 million.
Jon Favreau arrives at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The character Grogu arrives at the premiere of "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
