Multiple vote-by-mail ballots found discarded in Orange County after USPS master key was stolen
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Multiple vote-by-mail ballots were found discarded on the ground in Orange County after a USPS Arrow Key (master key) was stolen.
Glen Gilzean, the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, released a statement in response to the theft.
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"Recently our office was made aware by Orange County voters and the United States Postal Service that a stolen USPS Arrow Key was used to access cluster mailboxes in the county. During the theft, several vote-by-mail ballots our office mailed days earlier to voters were discarded on the ground. We immediately issued new ballots to the impacted voters. As the United States Postal Inspection Service conducts its investigation, we are reminding voters to sign up for Ballot-Trax 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 says.
The United States Postal Service released a statement in response, "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. 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 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to respond to and investigate election crimes involving the U.S. Mail".
Updates will be provided as more information is released.