Dot.Arson destroys hundreds of ballots inside a Washington state drop box.
billwashereLegit question: how do they figure out whose ballots got destroyed so they can vote again? Or do they even bother?
TʜᴇʀᴀᴘʏGⒶʀʏ⁽ᵗʰᵉʸ‘ᵗʰᵉᵐ⁾Ballots typically have identifiers such as voter information or barcodes that help election officials match them to specific voters, allowing them to contact those whose ballots were compromised and ensure they can cast a new vote.
Voters who used the affected drop box after the last collection time are encouraged to contact the Clark County Auditor’s office to verify if their ballot was among those destroyed and to obtain a replacement (source)
Ballots destroyed after fires in election drop boxes
Incendiary devices have been set off at two ballot drop boxes — one in Portland, Oregon, and another in nearby Vancouver, Washington — in what one official called a “direct attack on democracy." The Monday morning fire at the drop box in Portland was extinguished quickly thanks to a suppression system inside the box as well as a nearby security guard, and just three ballots were damaged there. But another fire at a transit center drop box in Vancouver destroyed hundreds of ballots. Vancouver is the biggest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, the site of what is expected to be one of the closest U.S. House races in the country.
So the onus is on the voters, meaning those votes are likely lost :/
I’m sure most of the people living there who recently dropped a ballot in that box will care enough to ask the same thing though.
I called the election board near me recently and learned my vote was deactivated because I changed registration, so my new ballot will be counted sooner but if I do nothing they’ll just count it on 15 Nov
I agree that almost everyone affected would WANT to vote again; most of the work of voting is deciding who to vote for, and they’ve already done that.
Another problem though is that not everyone affected will know that anything happened to their ballot.
But what other options are there? The ballots were destroyed, so there’s no way to know who to contact to let them know it happened.
Yeah, I don’t see any other option. I’m just saying it ain’t good.