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.