By MORGAN LEASON
Capital News Service
ANNAPOLIS, Md.–Maryland local election officials are keeping a close eye on ballot boxes this election cycle following incidents of people setting them ablaze in Oregon and Washington.
Jared DeMarinis, Maryland’s state administrator of elections, said ballot drop-box security is top of mind.
“This is a crime against democracy,” DeMarinis said in an email to Capital News Service. “We have taken steps to mitigate any potential problems if it occurs in Maryland.”
“This situation was a scenario in our table-top exercises prior to the election,” DeMarinis said. “Drop boxes are under 24/7 video surveillance.”
He said the State Board of Elections has also “engaged state and federal law enforcement partners to add additional protections” in safeguarding the vote.
Incendiary devices started the fires that destroyed hundreds of ballots in Portland and Vancouver, according to the Associated Press. Officials in Vancouver are working to contact those whose ballots were damaged in order to replace them in time.
But with the general election just five days away, the Maryland State Board of Elections is paying special attention to efforts to derail the vote count and verification process.
Officials at local boards of elections told CNS they have not seen attacks on ballot boxes like this – nor threats of it.
“We are aware of what happened in the other states with their drop boxes and are being more vigilant with our boxes but have not heard of any threats,” Kristen Scott, the deputy elections administrator in Calvert County, said in an email to CNS.
There have been reports of small, isolated incidents with ballot boxes in Maryland counties, said Gary Holmes, the director of the Cecil County Board of Elections.
“We have not had any ballot box incidents, except for a delivery truck accidentally backing into one, but no major damage,” Holmes told CNS in an email. “Some other counties have had teenagers turning them over, but not in Cecil.”
CNS contacted all of Maryland’s local boards of elections. None disclosed that box tampering has occurred or shown up on surveillance cameras.
None of the incidents mentioned to CNS approached the magnitude of the burning ballot boxes elsewhere around the country.
DeMarinis said the state board was prepared for this and has taken steps to mitigate these problems. Among other precautions, the local boards of elections have also modified ballot pick-up schedules to increase security.
All ballot boxes are under the watchful eye of security cameras operated by election officials, he said.
“Marylanders can feel safe and confident in using the drop box,” DeMarinis said.
