A passing driver found two containers of already-completed ballots on a Florida road after an election worker reportedly forgot to lock the back of the truck that was carrying them, according to a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade County Elections Department, who noted that the employee has been fired.
Elections staff retrieved the box and bag from the Miami-Dade Police Department and verified that all seals were intact and that nothing had been tampered with or damaged, Ivan Castro, elections media manager at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.
“The incident that occurred was due to human error,” Castro said. “The worker forgot to lock the back of the truck and as they drove off, one sealed bin and one sealed bag fell out, containing already voted ballots from early voting.”It’s unclear how many ballots were in the bin and bag, which the workers brought back to the elections headquarters, where the seals were checked once again.
“While unintentional, the Elections Department has zero tolerance for error, and therefore, the employee was terminated,” Castro said while thanking the “upstanding residents who did the right thing” by bringing the ballots to the police station.
This is not the first time that issues have occurred with early voting ballots during the current election cycle.
Portland Police Bureau Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan told reporters that “acts like this are targeted and they’re intentional” and that police are dedicated to stopping behavior that attempts to affect the election process.
Both incidents are under police investigation, with the FBI conducting its own probes.
Election officials in both states said they are taking additional security measures and urged voters to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity involving ballot boxes.
