HERE WE GO: Burned Mail-In Ballots Found in Los Angeles Drop Box DAYS BEFORE Mayoral Election

A voting sign with an American flag, indicating the location for voters to cast their ballots during an election.

Los Angeles County election officials are investigating after mail-in ballots were found damaged by fire inside an official ballot drop box just days before LA’s highly anticipated June 2 mayoral election.

The incident was discovered Sunday morning in downtown Los Angeles when election workers were collecting ballots from a drop box outside the county Department of Public Social Services building in the Civic Center area.

According to county officials, multiple vote-by-mail ballots appeared to have sustained fire-related damage inside the official drop box.

Authorities are also reviewing a separate act of election-related vandalism at a vote center located at Cesar E. Chavez Park in Long Beach.

In a news release, County officials said the Long Beach incident did not stop voting operations at the site, but the timing of both incidents raises serious concerns about the security of California’s election system as voters head into the final stretch before Election Day.

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan said his office is working with law enforcement and other partners to review both incidents and determine whether any voters were affected.

“Our responsibility is to protect voters and ensure every eligible voter has the opportunity to cast a ballot,” Logan said in a statement.

Officials said voters whose ballots may have been damaged in the drop box fire will be contacted directly and given options, including replacement ballots if necessary.

The county has not yet released the number of damaged ballots, the identity of any suspect, or the cause of the fire. A police report was filed with the Los Angeles Police Department, according to the registrar’s office.

The incident comes as California continues to rely heavily on vote-by-mail ballots and ballot drop boxes. State election officials mailed ballots to active registered voters for the June 2 primary, and voters are allowed to return ballots by mail, at official drop boxes, county elections offices, polling places, or vote centers.

Drop boxes are supposed to provide a secure and convenient option for voters, but incidents like this show the obvious vulnerability of leaving ballots in public collection boxes for extended periods.

This is not the first time Los Angeles County has dealt with fire damage involving a ballot drop box. In 2020, a ballot box outside the Baldwin Park Library caught fire in a suspected arson incident, forcing firefighters to cut open the box and leaving numerous ballots damaged.

Election officials routinely tell voters that mail-in voting and drop boxes are safe and secure. Yet voters are now watching another incident unfold in America’s largest county, where ballots were reportedly burned inside an official drop box shortly before a statewide election.

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