Woman claims Amazon delivery box came stuffed with hundreds of blank ballots
Forget Prime perks, a woman in Maine says her latest Amazon order came with a surprise she didn't add to her cart: 250 blank election ballots.
The Newburgh woman, who asked not to be identified, said she ordered coffee, rice and paper plates from the virtual shopping giant, but when she opened her package this week, she found hundreds of blank state ballots for the upcoming elections next month, state officials confirmed to ABC News.
The incident is being investigated by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, she said.
“Safe and secure elections are my top priority. As soon as we became aware of allegations of ballots being received outside of the appropriate chain of custody, I immediately initiated an investigation through my Secretary of State’s law enforcement division. Law enforcement is working diligently to determine who is responsible, and they will be held accountable. We will not stop until we have answers,” Bellows said in a statement.
The woman told officials the package appeared to have been opened and retaped when it arrived. She handed the ballots over to the Newburgh town office.
The Amazon delivery surprise comes days before Maine voters can start voting by mail on a referendum that could tighten restrictions on absentee voting in a state that has one of the highest voter participation rates in the nation.
Amazon told ABC News in a statement the company is cooperating fully with investigators on the matter.
"We’re cooperating with the law enforcement agencies investigating this incident. Based on our initial findings, it appears that this package was tampered with outside of our fulfillment and delivery network, and not by an Amazon employee or partner," an Amazon spokesperson said.
Additionally, Republicans in the state legislature said they requested U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to also investigate the incident, according to a letter sent to officials.
"The discovery of hundreds of authentic state ballots in a private Amazon delivery is beyond alarming,” said House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham in a statement.
“At a time when Maine people are being asked to weigh in on whether to adopt the same commonsense Voter ID standards used in 36 other states, this shocking breach exposes how vulnerable our elections really are. When ballots appear in household shipments of rice and toys, trust is shattered. Mainers deserve answers, accountability, and immediate action,” he added.
Alex Titcomb, who is a lead proponent of enacting the referendum on absentee voting in the upcoming elections, said this ballot incident is exactly why constituents in Maine need stricter absentee voting regulations.
“This is a stunning breach of election security that no free state can tolerate,” Titcomb said in a statement.
"Mainers deserve to know how many other ballots are unaccounted for, who is responsible, and whether our elections have already been compromised. This is an appalling breakdown in the chain of custody that makes it impossible for Mainers to have confidence in the integrity of our elections," he added.
The Newburgh town clerk declined to comment when asked by ABC News.
