With the California main elections already underway, the Los Angeles County Registrar's Workplace and the US Postal Service are investigating an incident the place a field of 104 unopened mail-in ballots was discovered on a sidewalk on Saturday.
The invention of the ballots in East Hollywood was reported by native information outlet KTTV, and the L.A. County Registrar's Workplace stated the incident was doubtless certainly one of mail theft, relatively than a direct try and intrude with the election.
In line with the report, a lady named Christina Repaci initially got here throughout the field on Saturday whereas strolling her canine. "I turned the nook and I simply noticed this field of envelopes, and it was a USPS field," Repaci instructed KTTV. "I picked some envelopes up and I noticed they have been ballots."
After taking them residence for safekeeping, Repaci tried to contact the L.A. County Sheriff's Division and several other politicians. She additionally despatched movies of the ballots to common social media accounts.
"I really referred to as the Sheriff's Division, I could not get via, so I emailed them," she instructed KTTV. "I bought an electronic mail again from a deputy saying—effectively, not in so many phrases—however mainly, it wasn't their downside, contact the USPS."
The L.A. County Registrar's Workplace reached out to Repaci to retrieve the ballots, with Registrar Dean Logan driving over to choose the ballots up himself.
"I made certain he was legit," Repaci instructed KTTV. "He gave me a card, and took a photograph of the field."
The L.A. County Registrar's Workplace stated safety protocols are in place to "shield towards any misuse or wrongdoing" of mail-in ballots, and urged voters to report potential disruptions to the voting course of on to its workplace.
"Our workplace was notified over the weekend of a mail tray discovered containing roughly 104 unopened, outbound Vote by Mail ballots and extra mail items," the L.A. County Registrar's Workplace stated in an announcement. "Due to the cooperation of the one who discovered the ballots, we have been capable of rapidly reply and coordinate the safe pickup of the ballots."
"We've reissued new ballots to the impacted voters," the assertion continued. "Early indicators point out that this was an incident of mail theft and never a directed try at disrupting the election. We're cooperating with the US Postal Service and regulation enforcement to analyze."
Repaci instructed KTTV the ordeal was "traumatic."
"It was a lot stress and for only one individual to get again to me," she stated. "What do I do right here? Now if it occurs to another person, they do not know what to do. They're going to simply put them in a dumpster or throw them within the trash."
"I simply do not assume it ought to have been this difficult to determine what to do with authorized ballots, she continued. "It is a nation of freedom and our votes ought to matter and one thing like this could by no means occur."
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