Maryland election officials are scrambling to resend thousands of mail-in ballots after sending thousands to the wrong political party.

The State Board of Elections said Friday that ballots mailed before May 14 may have been affected by the printing mix-up, forcing officials to send replacement ballots to all voters who had already requested mail-in voting.

More than 500,000 Maryland voters have requested mail-in ballots for the June 23 primary.

Officials claim only a small number of voters may have actually received the wrong ballots, but acknowledged the scope of the uncertainty required a mass reissue.

“It is possible only a small number of voters received the wrong ballot, and most voters received the correct ballot,” the board said in a statement.

Despite that, election administrators insisted every voter who already received a mail ballot would be sent a corrected replacement.

State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis defended the move and described mail-in voting as an “integral facet of the electoral process.”

”With over 500,000 voters requesting mail-in ballots, we want to eliminate any doubt in its integrity or accuracy,” he said.

”That is why I have arranged the sending of replacement ballots,” he said.

The error was blamed on election vendor Taylor Print and Visual Impressions Inc., which said it had implemented “additional quality control and verification measures” to prevent a repeat.

The incident immediately triggered questions about ballot security and election oversight, given that Democrats routinely weaponize mail-in ballots in order to cheat.

The Maryland Freedom Caucus demanded clarity on how officials would prevent duplicate voting.

“We demand to know how the state intends to differentiate between the first and second printing of these ballots,” the group said on X.

To restore faith in Maryland’s electoral process, decisive action is necessary. We must release the voter rolls to the federal government to allow for a thorough audit into the reported issuance of 400,000 incorrect ballots. pic.twitter.com/39PJlDyKiN

— Maryland Freedom Caucus (@MDFreedomCaucus) May 16, 2026

“The citizens have a right to know the exact process by which ballots will be scrutinized.”

The printing company insisted duplicate votes would not be counted.

“There is no risk of duplicate voting as a result of this issue. Election officials have safeguards in place to ensure that only the corrected ballots included in the replacement mailing will be accepted and counted,” the company said, without publicly detailing those safeguards.

Voters using downloadable ballots were not affected.

The post Maryland Forced to Reissue Thousands of Primary Ballots After Voters Sent Wrong Party’s Ballots appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

A new shocking study on Muslim youth attitudes in Austria’s capital is intensifying debate across Europe over integration, identity, and the long-term social impact of migration, as demographic changes continue to reshape the continent’s major cities.

The research, commissioned by the city of Vienna and led by sociologist Kenan Güngör, surveyed 1,200 young people between the ages of 14 and 21. Its findings, according to a report by the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, have been described by the authors as “very worrying,” particularly regarding attitudes toward law, democracy, and social norms.

The most striking finding, by far, is that 41 percent of Muslim youth surveyed said they believe religious law—that being Sharia Law—should take precedence over Austrian law. Among Christian respondents, that figure was significantly lower, at 21 percent.

These results come amid a profound demographic shift in Vienna, where Muslim children now account for roughly 40 percent of students in compulsory schools, making them the largest religious group among younger generations.

“This Is Displacement, Not Immigration”: Muslims Now Majority in Vienna Schools as Freedom Party Sounds Alarm Over ‘Great Replacement’

Vienna is not an isolated case. Across Western Europe, demographic trends are steadily transforming the composition of urban populations, particularly among the young.

In several major cities, names associated with Muslim heritage—most notably variations of “Muhammad”—have risen sharply in birth registries. In parts of the United Kingdom, for example, Muhammad has ranked among the most common boys’ names for years.

Similar patterns have been observed in countries such as France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, where urban birth data reflects increasing diversity among newborn populations. While naming trends alone do not define identity, they are often cited as indicators of broader demographic change.

These shifts are occurring alongside continued migration flows over the past decade. Against this backdrop, the Vienna study raises questions about how integration is unfolding in practice. Researchers found that religion plays a far more central role in the identity of Muslim youth compared to their peers.

This is reflected in daily life: 65 percent of respondents said religious rules should govern all aspects of behavior, while more than a third believe those rules should apply broadly across society.

The study also found that 46 percent of Muslim youth agreed that one should be willing to “fight and die” for their faith, a figure significantly higher than among Christian respondents.

Support for democratic governance also varies widely. While more than 80 percent of Austrian youth overall support democracy, the figure drops substantially among some immigrant-origin groups.

This divergence has become a focal point in European political debates. Policymakers increasingly emphasize the obvious importance of shared civic values as a foundation for social cohesion.

Gender roles and social norms further illustrate these differences. In some groups, traditional views remain prevalent, including the belief that men should make key decisions and skepticism toward female leadership.

Researchers point in particular to the influence of social media, where algorithm-driven content can reinforce identity-based narratives and, in some cases, amplify more extreme viewpoints.

This combination of demographic change and social fragmentation presents a complex challenge for European societies. Integration is no longer just about economic participation, but about shared norms and mutual understanding.

Across Europe, public opinion is shifting in response. In countries such as Germany and Austria, surveys indicate growing concern about the pace and scale of migration, particularly in relation to integration capacity. In response to such trends, right-wing, anti-mass migration parties like AfD, FPÖ, National Rally, Reform UK, and others continue to top the polls.

Political responses have also followed. In Austria, parties such as the national-conservative FPÖ and centrist ÖVP have pointed to the findings as evidence supporting stricter migration and integration policies.

In any case, the Vienna study appears to have sharpened the debate. It highlights the importance of addressing not only economic integration, but also the deeper cultural and civic dimensions of coexistence.

As Europe continues to face never before seen demographic changes, the question facing policymakers is how to maintain social cohesion. The findings from Vienna suggest that this is becoming more difficult—and more urgent.

The post Austria Shock Poll: 41% of Muslim Youth in Vienna Say Religious Law Comes Before National Law appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The 2026 Iran conflict has generated considerable speculation about American overreach and strategic strain. However, the behavior of the actors best positioned to exploit U.S. military engagement, including Iran’s proxies in the Middle East, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas, as well as China in the Indo-Pacific and Russia in Europe, suggests the opposite.

Rather than taking advantage of a supposed vacuum created by the shift in U.S. military attention, America’s adversaries have largely acted with caution and restraint. Their behavior suggests that they recognize the United States remains the premier military power on earth. They also appear to understand that the U.S. is capable of conducting operations in one theater without forfeiting its ability to respond decisively in another.

Beginning in November 2023, during the Biden administration, the Iran-backed Houthi militia launched a sustained campaign of drone and missile strikes against commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The economic damage was severe. The Defense Intelligence Agency reported that the attacks impacted at least 65 countries and forced at least 29 major energy and shipping companies to alter their routes, with alternate shipping routes around Africa adding around 11,000 nautical miles and increasing fuel costs by approximately $1 million per voyage.

The DIA put the decline in container shipping through the Red Sea at approximately 90 percent between December 2023 and February 2024. The International Transport Forum estimated the total additional cost to global trade at $15 to $20 billion annually for the duration of the disruption. The Russell Group estimated $1 trillion in goods disrupted from October 2023 to May 2024.

The Biden administration’s response, Operation Prosperity Guardian launched in December 2023, became the most sustained combat experience for the U.S. Navy since World War II. Despite the Navy neutralizing 380 Houthi-launched projectiles through January 2025, the shipping lanes did not recover. Iran, as the Houthis’ primary benefactor, supplied the group with weapons transfers, training, and intelligence support, with the Congressional Research Service documenting Iranian provision of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, and IRGC advisory personnel that sustained the campaign.

Trump escalated. Operation Rough Rider launched March 15, 2025, with the stated goal of restoring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. By April 28, U.S. Central Command reported over 800 targets struck, with a 69 percent reduction in Houthi ballistic missile launches and a 55 percent decrease in one-way drone attacks. On May 6, Oman brokered a ceasefire under which neither side would target the other in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, restoring freedom of navigation and the flow of international commercial shipping.

Iran’s three primary proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, entered 2026 in vastly different states of readiness. Israel had killed all of Hamas’s top leadership in Gaza and the vast majority of its battlefield commanders over two years of sustained bombardment.

Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024, along with most of the group’s senior command. Hezbollah had privately promised Lebanese officials, including President Joseph Aoun, that it would stay out of the conflict, a commitment the Lebanese cabinet formalized by outlawing Hezbollah’s military and security wings and ordering the deportation of IRGC members from Lebanese soil after Hezbollah broke that promise and rejoined the fighting anyway. The Houthis were the least damaged of the three.

With the U.S. now in a kinetic conflict with Iran, the Houthis’ primary arms supplier and financial backer, the group has not resumed attacks on commercial vessels. As of May 2026, the Houthis had conducted limited attacks on Israel but had not resumed strikes on shipping. Those limited attacks were intercepted, and analysts attributed the subsequent restraint to cost-benefit calculations and fear of drawing the U.S. into another sustained campaign.

Israeli Operation Lucky Drop on August 28, 2025, killed Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi, along with nine other ministers, the director of the prime minister’s office, and the secretary of the council of ministers. The military chief of staff subsequently died from wounds sustained in the strike. Those losses left the group more cautious and wary of provoking another heavy aerial campaign.

When the Houthis eventually entered the conflict, launching a ballistic missile at Israel on March 28, 2026, their first strike since the U.S.-Iran war began, the attack was intercepted by Israeli air defenses. The Houthis warned that closure of the Bab el-Mandeb was “likely” only if the conflict escalated further or Gulf Arab states joined the war directly. That posture reflected deterrence management rather than offensive escalation.

This experience with the Houthis demonstrates that the Houthis have both the capacity and the will to disrupt global shipping. The reduction in attacks under President Trump demonstrates that the U.S. military has the ability to reclaim freedom of navigation, while Biden’s refusal to do so underscores a lack of political will under the previous administration. None of this supports media claims that U.S. engagement in one conflict prevents the United States from responding to other conflicts.

Regarding Beijing, the Iran conflict has reduced China’s access to cheap Iranian oil, yet China has done very little to support Iran militarily against the United States. Beijing issued press statements condemning the strikes, while Chinese companies reportedly provided some dual-use technology and geospatial intelligence to Iran, drawing U.S. sanctions. However, the CCP explicitly avoided overt military support in order to safeguard its broader economic interests and protect its shipping routes through contested waterways.

When CNN reported that China was preparing to ship MANPADS to Iran through third countries, President Trump warned Beijing that China would “have big problems” if it proceeded. Chinese leader Xi Jinping subsequently told Trump in a letter exchange that Beijing was not providing weapons to Iran. China ultimately backed away from even that limited covert support.

Furthermore, the primary contingency in U.S. military planning regarding the PRC has long been a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated his desire to “reunify” China by absorbing Taiwan and has refused to rule out the use of military force to achieve that objective.

Over the past several years, China has conducted increasingly large military exercises around Taiwan, including repeated incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone and operations near Taiwanese territorial waters. Many of these drills appeared designed to rehearse blockade or invasion scenarios.

Mainstream media commentators and foreign-policy pundits frequently claimed that President Trump’s engagement in Iran would weaken deterrence in the Indo-Pacific by tying down U.S. military resources and creating an opportunity for China to move against Taiwan. However, that has not happened.

As for the Ukraine war, Moscow has not “seized the moment” to intensify its campaign in Ukraine or invade additional countries in Europe. Similarly, China has not dramatically increased support to Russia in an effort to help Moscow successfully conclude the war in Ukraine.

The mainstream framing that the U.S. is strategically constrained by the Iran war and unable to respond to threats elsewhere in the world inverts the actual evidence. The United States has simultaneously conducted operations in Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Ecuador, Nigeria, and against drug-trafficking vessels across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

President Trump’s demonstrated willingness to use kinetic force across multiple theaters complicates Xi Jinping’s calculations regarding Taiwan, Russia’s calculations in Ukraine, and those of Iranian proxies across the Middle East.

The post Lessons From the Iran Conflict: How Tehran’s Proxies and China Expose the Limits of U.S. Rivals appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

President Donald Trump is wasting no time expanding his America First purge of anti-Trump Republicans following Senator Bill Cassidy’s humiliating political collapse in Louisiana.

Just days after Trump-backed forces helped end Cassidy’s political career, the president has now set his sights on another longtime thorn in the side of the MAGA movement: Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie.

On Sunday, Trump took to Truth Social to deliver a blistering endorsement of Navy SEAL Captain Ed Gallrein to challenge the seven-term congressman in Tuesday’s high-stakes Republican primary.

Trump didn’t mince words, calling Massie a “Third Rate Congressman,” a “Weak and Pathetic RINO,” and demanding he be “thrown out of office, ASAP!” from the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Trump wrote the following statements during the weekend:

“Tom Massie of Kentucky, the worst and most unreliable Republican Congressman in the history of our Country, is an even bigger insult to our Nation than Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who suffered an unprecedented loss tonight by not even being allowed to run in the Republican Primary. This is the first time such a thing has ever happened to a sitting U.S. Senator! That’s what you get by voting to Impeach an innocent man, especially one who made it possible for Cassidy’s Senate win. Very disloyal, but Tom Massie, a major Sleazebag, is even worse! Kentucky, get this LOSER out of politics in Tuesday’s Election. He is nicknamed Rand Paul Jr., another real “beauty,” because of his absolutely terrible voting habits. Vote for Ed Gallrein, a successful Kentucky farmer, and American War Hero, who only ran because he thought that Massie was so disloyal and disrespectful to your President, ME! This is a great man, Central Casting, in fact, who truly deserves to represent the fantastic people of Kentucky, a Commonwealth that I am proud to have won all three times, in record fashion! ED WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP..”

[…]

“Bad Congressman Tom Massie voted against Tax Cuts, the Border Wall, our Military and Law Enforcement. Actually, he voted against almost everything that is good. The Worst Republican Congressman in History. Kentucky, vote the bum out on Tuesday. We can’t live with this troublemaker for another two years. He is a true negative force!!! President DJT”

[…]

“Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie, a Weak and Pathetic RINO from the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, a place I love, and won big SIX TIMES, including all Primaries, must be thrown out of office, ASAP! He is the Worst “Republican” Congressman in History, voting against Tax Cuts, the Wall, Law Enforcement, and in favor of the Transgender Mutilization of our Children, Men playing in Women’s Sports, and so many more horrible things. The incredible people of Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District gave us a mandate to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that will help us do that is Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Fifth Generation Kentucky Farmer, Captain Ed Gallrein, a true America First Patriot.

A Brave Combat Veteran, Ed knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Defend our Country, Support our Military/Veterans, and Ensure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH. Additionally, as a very successful Businessman, Ed knows how to Create GREAT Jobs, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Support our Amazing Farmers and American Agriculture, Unleash American Energy Dominance, and Champion our Nation’s Golden Age. In Congress, he will fight tirelessly to Keep our now very Secure Border, SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment.

The Great People of Kentucky are wise to Massie — He only votes against the Republican Party, making life very easy for the Radical Left. Unlike “lightweight” Massie, a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN. Election Day is Tuesday, May 19th. VOTE FOR ED GALLREIN — HE HAS MY COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

The Guardian reported:

Undeterred by Trump’s lurid attacks, Massie put on a brave face on the Sunday political show This Week on ABC News. “I’m the only one they haven’t been able to bully,” he said, adding: “I’m ahead in the polls, and they’re desperate … That’s why the president’s losing sleep and tweeting about this.”

In fact, Massie’s position is not as comfortable as he made out. An independent poll by Quantus Insights last week put Gallrein, a farmer and retired US Navy Seal, ahead of the incumbent representative 48% to 43%, with 8% undecided.

Massie insisted on CNN that he was buoyed up by the support of anti-abortion and gun rights groups in the state, and by millions of dollars in donations from grassroots voters. By contrast, he blamed super-wealthy donors including Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer and what he called the “Israeli lobby” for bombarding Kentucky with money to unseat him.

The prevailing political wind is certainly in Trump’s direction, as he continues to stamp out any sign of autonomous thought within his party. On Saturday Bill Cassidy, the Republican senator from Louisiana, was ousted in a primary as punishment for having voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment over the January 6 insurrection.

The post Trump Intensifies Effort To Unseat “Weak and Pathetic RINO” Thomas Massie After Cassidy’s Humiliating Primary Defeat – Backs Navy Seal Hero Ed Gallrein In Tight Kentucky Showdown appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The Republican National Committee is escalating its election integrity war ahead of the 2026 midterms.

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters announced that Republicans have already launched 130 lawsuits across 32 states aimed at blocking Democrat efforts to “cheat every single day” in U.S. elections.

The announcement comes as President Donald Trump recently vowed to unleash a much larger “Election Integrity Army” than the one Republicans used in 2024, signaling that the GOP is preparing for an all-out legal and ground-game fight over ballot security, vote counting, and election procedures in battleground states. 

Gruters laid it all out in no uncertain terms, exposing exactly what the Democrats are up to during an interview on Fox News:

Gruters: Well, listen, the president, when he asked me to take this position, said, “We’ve got to make sure our elections are safe and secure. We have to continue to build on the success that Lara Trump and Michael Whatley built in the 2024 cycle.”

And yes, the Democrats are trying to cheat every single day. That’s why we have 130 lawsuits. We’re bringing the hammer wherever we can — in 32 states where we have lawsuits because the Democrats are trying to cheat every single day.

It doesn’t matter if it’s redistricting. It doesn’t matter if—what they’ve done is allowed tens of millions of illegals to come across our border, and they’re trying to figure out ways to get them to vote.

That’s why we’re always focused on making sure we have integrity in the system, so that we can have confidence in our democracy. And we’re putting people in place. We’ve already hired staff in 17 states, and we’re going to continue our strong litigation effort to make sure we beat back these Democrats and their efforts, which have been ongoing for decades, to try to steal elections.

WATCH:

JUST IN: RNC Chair Joe Gruters announces 130 LAWSUITS across 32 states to block Democrats from cheating in the elections — and MORE are coming

President Trump has also said he’s sending out an ARMY of election lawyers to stop the steal

Pair it with the SAVE AMERICA ACT and… pic.twitter.com/Pg50a4Hiz7

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 18, 2026

The post RNC Chair Joe Gruters Announces 130 LAWSUITS Filed Across 32 States to Stop Democrat Election Shenanigans — as President Trump Deploys ARMY of Election Lawyers to STOP THE STEAL appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.