MIAMI – A Miami-Dade elections worker was fired after a sealed bin and a sealed bag of ballots fell out of their truck and were discovered on the side of the road, according to the county’s elections department.
The elections department called it a case of human error. The worker forgot to lock the back of the truck and as they drove off, one sealed bin and one sealed bag fell out, containing already voted ballots from early voting.
The sealed containers with the ballots inside had already been scanned and tabulated at the South Dade Regional Library’s early voting site on Monday, according to the Miami Herald.
A driver spotted the bin and bag with the ballots near 211 Street and the Turnpike Extension in Cutler Bay, according to a video posted by OnlyInDade.
The elections department said the driver did the right thing. He picked up the bin and bag and took them to the police department.
“Upon arrival at the police department, Elections staff verified all seals were intact and nothing was tampered with or damaged,” according to a statement from Deputy Supervisor of Elections Roberto A. RodrÃguez. “Once at Elections Headquarters, all items were accounted for and all seals were once again verified.”
While what happened was unintentional, the elections department has zero tolerance for error so the employee was terminated.
