An official L.A. County ballot drop box was damaged by fire outside of Baldwin Park Library on Oct. 18.
“The incident is being investigated as arson,” according to a joint press release from LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, Dean C. Logan and LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis. Logan and Solis responded to the incident in a virtual conference and discussed their plans for other drop boxes.
Logan reassured voters that they were able to retrieve a significant number of ballots from the damaged box through the Baldwin Park Police Department. For the ballots that were lost, most of the voter information was still legible and the county’s office will contact those voters to provide them with another ballot for this election.
A local business owner, George Silva, is the individual who contacted L.A. County about the damaged dropbox. Because of him, Solis said “[they] could salvage the remaining ballots that were found in the box.”
“The Los Angeles County Registrar will continue to do everything possible to ensure the integrity of local elections,” Logan said. “Tampering with vote by mail drop boxes and ballots is a serious criminal offense and we will vigorously seek the prosecution of individuals who engage in such behavior.”
The L.A. County Registrar’s office immediately reported the incident to local law enforcement, the FBI and the Attorney General to request investigation and to possibly obtain footage to determine the fire’s cause.
“Regardless of the motive of the incident, I know these scenarios might deter people from voting, but I want to urge you not to let that be the end result,” Solis said.
Ballot boxes are supposed to help facilitate the voting process, especially during a year when many voters are voting by mail and the USPS faces financial strain.
“When I heard about it I was a little shocked, but not too surprised considering also seeing the fake ballot boxes recently and what’s been going on with that,” Zachary Pifer, a junior majoring in Biochemistry at USC, said.
Pifer added that this incident highlights another flaw in the voting system and that he believes voting online would be more “healthy in terms of getting yourself heard and having access to it."
"I just feel like it could be a lot more efficient,” he said.
The Los Angeles County Registrar’s office said in a press release that a new drop box for Baldwin Park will be put in a location with better lighting to avoid further incidents. The frequency of emptying ballot boxes will also increase. The county has more than 400 ballot drop boxes intended to serve 5.6 million voters. The drop boxes are “a safe alternative to going to the United States Postal Service or voting in person,” Solis said.
“Elections do matter, and our residents' voices need to be heard, and the county will safeguard its duty to ensure and protect that right to vote,” Solis said. “And although the incident on Sunday night resulted in a drop box being compromised because it burned, your right to vote has not and will not be compromised.”
“If it did get worse then I probably wouldn’t use the ballot boxes, but as of right now I still feel fine,” said Itai Darmon, a sophomore political science major at USC who will be using the ballot boxes in L.A. to vote. “I can’t really do anything about it, so I’m kind of just accepting the fact that I have to trust that my vote is gonna be secure.”
The last pick up of ballots at the affected location was on Oct. 17 at 10:10 A.M. according to the registrar’s office. Individuals who used this drop box location after the aforementioned time are encouraged to call 562-503-2445 or email vbmdropoff@rrcc.lacounty.gov for assistance.