Just days ahead of Election Day, Miami-Dade County’s Elections Department is facing scrutiny after a ballot box was discovered on a roadway, having fallen from an unlocked truck. This incident, which led to the dismissal of an election worker, has raised alarms among local residents and prompted responses from election officials.
The incident occurred between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. on Monday as an elections worker departed the South Dade Regional Library, where early voting had concluded for the day. A sealed ballot bin and a sealed bag, both containing ballots from early voting, reportedly fell off the truck due to an unsecured rear door.
Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Christina White explained that the lapse was due to “an unfortunate human error.” According to White, the worker neglected to lock the truck’s rear door, causing the items to drop onto the road as they left the early voting site.
“It was an unfortunate human error on the part of one of our workers,” White said, adding that the worker was responsible for returning voted ballot bins and other election materials to headquarters. “They just forgot to lock the back of the truck, and when they pulled out of the early voting site, the door opened, and one ballot bin and one bag fell out of the truck.”
Cellphone footage shared by Only in Dade quickly circulated online, showing the ballot box and bag on the road. Several bystanders retrieved the materials and promptly took them to a local police station. White commended these residents for their actions, saying, “We were very fortunate that there were upstanding residents that happened to see this unfold, and they did the responsible thing and turned it into the local Miami-Dade Police Department.”
White assured the public that the ballot materials were still secure, as both items were sealed, confirming no signs of tampering. Inside the bin were backup paper ballots from one voting machine at the South Dade Regional Library, which had already been electronically counted, while the bag contained a single provisional ballot awaiting eligibility review.
White sought to ease any concerns over vote integrity, stating, “These represented the ballots that went into one of those units… so I want to put voters’ minds at ease that their votes were counted, they were cast and counted accurately.”
White further noted that while the incident was unprecedented, election procedures were immediately reviewed with staff, emphasizing the importance of ballot security. “The employee was absolutely distraught over it, but in the elections field, we have zero tolerance for error,” White said, underscoring the department’s commitment to accurate vote handling.
To maintain public confidence, White highlighted that all Miami-Dade elections undergo an audit. In a statement, Miami-Dade Elections expressed gratitude to the witnesses, calling them “upstanding citizens” for quickly turning in the fallen items.
After being returned to the Miami-Dade Police Department’s South District Station, election officials inspected the ballot box and bag, verifying all seals were intact. Officials affirmed that despite the incident, ballot integrity remained intact and that stringent handling procedures are firmly in place to prevent similar issues.
“Everything was brought back as it should be — sealed, tamper-free,” White said, urging voters to feel confident in the election process.
