Summary
- A
woman in Newburgh found 250 ballots in an Amazon box. - The
package included coffee, rice, and paper plates. - The
box appeared opened and re-taped on arrival. - The
Maine Secretary of State launched an investigation.
The customer, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that
she thought her item had been opened and re-recorded before it reached her
door, implying that it might have been altered after departing the regional
depot of the retail behemoth.
She clarified that she had forwarded it through law
enforcement to the town clerk’s office in Newburgh.
Her state is holding a referendum on increasing absentee voting
rules, and the mystery comes just days before voters will start casting ballots
by mail.
In the United States, Maine boasts one of the highest
percentages of voter turnout.
Shenna Bellows, its secretary of state, has said she is
investigating the incident and said in a statement:
“Safe and secure elections
are my top priority. As soon as we became aware of allegations of ballots being
received outside of the appropriate chain of custody, I immediately initiated
an investigation through my secretary of state’s law enforcement division.
Law enforcement is working diligently to determine who is
responsible, and they will be held accountable. We will not stop until we have
answers.”
The state’s House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham
has since called
on the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to launch
federal investigations of their own.
“The discovery of hundreds of authentic state ballots in a
private Amazon delivery is beyond alarming,”
Faulkingham said in a statement of
his own.
“At a time when Maine people are being asked to weigh in on
whether to adopt the same common-sense Voter ID standards used in 36 other
states, this shocking breach exposes how vulnerable our elections really are.
When ballots appear in household shipments of rice and toys,
trust is shattered. Mainers deserve answers, accountability, and immediate
action.”
Alex Titcomb, a local election reform campaigner, said the
incident was a perfect illustration of just why voting regulations need to be
tightened.
“This is a stunning breach of election security that no free
state can tolerate,”
he said.
“Mainers deserve to know how many other ballots are
unaccounted for, who is responsible, and whether our elections have already
been compromised. This is an appalling breakdown in the chain of custody that
makes it impossible for Mainers to have confidence in the integrity of our
elections.”
The campaign group Voter ID for ME wrote on X: “HUNDREDS of
ballots are now turning up in Amazon packages?? This isn’t satire, fear
mongering or political hyperbole. It’s reality.
And it’s very likely not a one-off, either. This is HUGE and
means our elections are even MORE unsafe than we thought.”
How might this affect upcoming referendum mail-in
procedures?
This event highlights weaknesses in the chain of custody of
ballots and increased concerns that ballots could be either damaged, lost or
mishandled, which could detract from the public’s confidence in election
integrity.
These violations could also stoke doubts about mail-in
voting’s security and connection to decreased turnouts or increased calls for
verification.
One response may include stronger regulations for how,
where, and by whom the ballots are removed, transported, stored, and verified,
along with increased oversight of the secure shipment of ballots.
Another possible outcome is longer counts and/or potential
litigation concerning the validity of ballots, especially if the ballots are
perceived to have been compromised or mishandled.
