By PATRICK WHITTLE
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Authorities in Maine are investigating an allegation that dozens of unmarked ballots that had been for use on this November’s election arrived inside a girl’s Amazon order.
The city of Ellsworth reported to the state final week that it was lacking a cargo of 250 absentee ballots, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows mentioned Monday. That occurred the identical day a girl in a city roughly 40 miles away reported discovering bundles of ballots — 250 in all — wrapped in plastic contained in the field that contained her supply from Amazon.
The secretary of state’s legislation enforcement division is investigating the invention with help from the FBI and state authorities, Bellows mentioned throughout a information convention on the state Capitol. She declined to determine the one who reported the ballots contained in the supply field, besides to substantiate she lived within the city of Newburgh.
“I’ve full confidence that legislation enforcement will decide who’s accountable, and any unhealthy actor shall be held accountable,” she mentioned, suggesting there might be different examples.
“This 12 months, it appears that evidently there might have been makes an attempt to interrupt the distribution of ballots and poll supplies,” Bellows mentioned, declining to elaborate.
The investigation into the wayward ballots is happening lower than a month earlier than the state’s Nov. 4 election and with absentee voting already underway. The poll features a Republican-backed initiative that may implement a photograph ID requirement for voters, restrict using drop containers and make adjustments to the state’s absentee voting system.
It additionally comes as Bellows, who’s searching for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2026, is clashing with the U.S. Division of Justice over its requests in quite a few states for detailed voter roll data. The division has sued a number of states which have refused to show over the info, together with Maine.
Bellows has been a goal of Republican ire in Maine since she eliminated President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential major poll underneath the Structure’s rebellion clause. Trump appeared on the poll after the U.S. Supreme Courtroom intervened.
The story of the misplaced ballots has unfold extensively on social media since a conservative web site within the state first reported it final week and has reignited claims by conservatives that Maine’s elections should be safer. Some outstanding Republicans have used it to advertise the necessity for the election-related poll initiative.
“What this implies is that Mainers have to prove in drive, and each single individual that helps voter ID and securing our elections must get out and vote between now and Nov. 4 to make sure that we safe our elections,” mentioned Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby, a supporter of the voter ID initiative.
Maine’s prime Republicans within the Democratic-majority Legislature despatched a letter final week to U.S. Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel requesting an investigation into the claims. The letter states that the one who acquired the package deal, whom it doesn’t title, knowledgeable their city workplace concerning the discovery.
Officers with the Justice Division and city of Newburgh declined to remark. Amazon mentioned the corporate is cooperating with Maine’s investigation.
“Primarily based on our preliminary findings, it seems that this package deal was tampered with outdoors of our achievement and supply community, and never by an Amazon worker or companion,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement to The Related Press.
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