Amazon says it’s not responsible for Maine ballots found in woman’s package
By Russ Reed
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NEWBURGH, Maine (WMTW) — Amazon says the hundreds of Maine ballots found in a Newburgh woman’s package were not put in the box by anyone who works for the company.
The Newburgh resident said she found five bundles of 50 blank ballots in an Amazon delivery she received Sept. 30. The woman told Maine’s Total Coverage reporter Jackie Mundry the package appeared to have already been opened and retaped.
According to the woman, she found all the items she had ordered in addition to the 250 ballots for the Nov. 4 general election. She said she immediately called the Newburgh Town Office and handed the ballots over.
In a statement shared with Maine’s Total Coverage, Amazon said it is cooperating with the law enforcement agencies investigating the incident and it seems someone outside the company is responsible.
The company said that based on initial findings, it appears the package was tampered with outside of Amazon’s fulfillment and delivery network, and not by an Amazon employee or partner.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said the city of Ellsworth received two boxes of absentee ballots as planned on Sept. 30, but one of those boxes was missing five packets of ballots totaling 250 ballots. Bellows said Ellsworth officials notified state election officials, who then contacted the printer and authorized carrier of the ballots to investigate what happened.
In addition, Bellows said a conservative blogger emailed a staff member at the Secretary of State’s Office at about 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 1 to notify them that they would be posting an article about the Newburgh woman’s claims. Bellows said state election officials did not receive word from Newburgh town officials until 8 a.m. on Oct. 1, who reported that they received the blank ballots from the resident. According to Bellows, detectives with her office immediately went to Newburgh and secured the blank ballots.
Bellows said as soon as her office became aware of the Newburgh incident, she directed the Secretary of State’s Office law enforcement division to investigate. According to Bellows, those investigators are working closely with the Maine Attorney General’s Office and Maine State Police, as well as federal law enforcement partners, including the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
“I have full confidence that law enforcement will determine who is responsible, and any bad actor will be held accountable,” Bellows said Monday. “We will not stop until we have answers.”
Bellows said the number of ballots reported missing in Ellsworth corresponds to the number of ballots received by the Newburgh resident, but she would not confirm if the ballots found in Newburgh were the ones missing from Ellsworth. The two communities are approximately 40 miles apart.
According to Bellows, the ballots that were found in Newburgh cannot be used to cast a vote, and that Ellsworth has received 250 new ballots and now has its full allocation.
Bellows also said an out-of-state private organization contacted Maine election officials because they believed they were in possession of return envelopes for Maine absentee ballots, but she said her office was able to confirm that all communities have received their appropriate shipments of return envelopes.
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