Multiple vote-by-mail ballots found discarded in Orange County after USPS master key was stolen

Multiple vote-by-mail ballots found discarded

People living in Orlando’s Pinewood Reserve subdivision said thieves broke into their mailboxes and shoved several unwanted items into a storm drain, including vote-by-mail ballots.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - People living in Orlando’s Pinewood Reserve subdivision said thieves broke into their mailboxes and shoved several unwanted items into a storm drain, including vote-by-mail ballots.

The United States Postal Service said the thefts occurred after an arrow key, also known as a master key, was stolen.

"I found out our mail was stolen when my debit card was used fraudulently, and I didn't have any details at that time," said David Peterson, who said his mail was stolen.

Peterson said neighbors found their mail in a storm drain, a couple of weeks ago. He said thieves stole it from a bank of community mailboxes in the subdivision.

"Our neighbors on a Facebook page showed a picture of all this wet mail outside the drain."

It seems the thieves were searching for debit and credit cards, but Peterson said his vote-by-mail ballot was also gone.

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"I thought I wonder if our ballots, and then the picture came up on the Facebook page, so I called right away and they got these out to us straight away."

Orange County elections supervisor Glen Gilzean said at least twelve people from that community contacted his office asking for replacement ballots.

"Once they informed us, we sprang into action. In less than 24 hours we were able to get them a ballot," he said.

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The United States Postal Service released a statement in response to our inquiries.

"The U.S. Postal Inspection Service cannot confirm, deny, or otherwise comment on the existence of ongoing investigations. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, as the federal law enforcement and security arm of the Postal Service, is responsible for defending the nation’s mail system from illegal or dangerous use.

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"The Inspection Service continues to employ its technical capabilities and specialized personnel to protect the critical infrastructure of our processing and distribution networks, as well as the employees who will be delivering to voters across the country.

"Utilizing proven mail-fraud detection and loss prevention strategies and countermeasures, Postal Inspectors will continue to actively identify attempts to compromise the mail system our nation is depending on during this critical time. In doing so, the Inspection Service will be working closely with our state and local law enforcement partners, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to respond to and investigate election crimes involving the U.S. Mail."

Election officials encourage anyone who has not received their vote-by-mail ballot to contact them as soon as possible for a replacement. For those who have voted by mail, some Florida counties offer a ballot tracking system, called BallotTrax .

"As the United States Postal Inspection Service conducts its investigation, we are reminding voters to sign up for BallotTrax so they can track their ballot through the entire process and call our office if they do not receive their ballot or if their community’s mailbox is compromised," Gilzean added.

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