Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said the absentee ballots allegedly shipped to a Newburgh woman last week seem to correspond with missing absentee ballots in Ellsworth.
At a press conference today, Bellows said Ellsworth clerk's office reported that a delivery of two boxes of absentee ballots was short by around 250 ballots. That's the same number of ballots allegedly found in an Amazon box as part of a delivery to a woman in Newburgh. Ellsworth and Newburgh are 40 miles apart.
"I have full confidence that law enforcement will determine who is responsible, and any bad actor will be held accountable," Bellows said. "We will not stop until we have answers."
The Ellsworth clerk notified the Secretary of State Elections Division Tuesday, when the delivery was made. But Bellows said the secretary of state's office was not notified of the alleged delivery in Newburgh until the Maine Wire, which Bellows called a "conservative blogger," emailed the office at 1:31 a.m. Wednesday, adding that he would publish immediately.
The Newburgh Town Office called the Elections Division at 8 a.m. Wednesday, reporting that it had received the ballots, which were then secured by secretary of state detectives.
Bellows said she can't speak to details of the case as it is part of an ongoing investigation by the secretary of state's law enforcement division, with assistance from the attorney general's office, the Maine State Police, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service.
Because the ballots found in Newburgh broke the official chain of custody, they cannot be used in the election, Bellows said. Ellsworth has received new absentee ballots to compensate for those reported missing.
"So the good news in all of this is that the system of checks and balances worked," she said. "Whatever happened last week, and we will find out what happened, will not impact our election. Law enforcement will find those responsible. Any bad actor involved will be punished."
Bellows said there are four packages of ballots that have not yet been delivered to small Maine towns. Those municipalities do not have office hours until later in the week, and Bellows said her office is working with the postal service to ensure those ballots are delivered on time.
The Elections Division was also contacted by an out-of-state private company that believed it was in possession of absentee return envelopes from Maine, and Bellows said she directed the investigation to also look into that incident. But she said Monday that all Maine towns have received shipments of return envelopes as planned.
"We will adapt, as we always do, to stay one step ahead of the bad actors who seek to interfere with our elections," Bellows said. "Maine elections are free, safe and secure, and I have confidence that this November, we will once again lead the nation in safe and secure elections."
Bellows said there are many steps in the printing process meant to protect the chain of custody for absentee ballots. The state contracts with a private printing company to print the ballots, and then ships them directly to municipalities with either UPS or the U.S. Postal Service. Local clerks must sign for the packages, and complete a ballot receipt to submit to the secretary of state's office.
There are then additional steps, Bellows said, to track individual absentee ballots and to ensure that every vote is counted once per registered voter.
The return envelopes for absentee ballots are printed with a separate company, Bellows said and shipped at a separate time with UPS.
