The United States Postal Service and the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters have launched an investigation to determine how a dozen or more Santa Clara County ballots wound up in a ravine in the Santa Cruz mountains, according to communications officer Michael Borja of the registrar’s office.
The ballots were discovered in a pile of other mail, discarded in the woods near Sugarloaf Road off Highway 17, Borja said. The ballots appear to have been removed from the mail and not one of the county’s designated ballot dropboxes.
NBC Bay Area was first to report the ballots’ discovery on Friday. Two voters whose ballots were reportedly found in the ravine told NBC that they had dropped them off last Saturday at a post office on Payne Avenue in West San Jose.
Borja said the investigation into the discarded ballots is in its early stages.
The registrar’s office is reviewing election law now in order to determine if the ballots can still be legally counted.
“…[We are] very concerned about this unfortunate incident,” Borja added. “…[Our office] has extensive safeguards and chain of custody procedures to ensure that ballots are collected and transported safely and securely.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com