The Miami-Dade County Elections Department terminated an employee after a box of election ballots were found on the side of the road in Cutler Bay.
A video circulated this week of individuals coming across a box full of ballots and other documents. The individuals brought the box to the police station.
Last night, an individual came across a box full of ballots and other documents on exit 11 of the Turnpike, at the intersection of 211th St. in Cutler Bay. He immediately picked them up and took them to the police station, where they have been properly secured. No information yet… pic.twitter.com/HQP6glsm9b
— ONLY in DADE (@ONLYinDADE) October 29, 2024
The elections department said the incident was due to “human error.” The department said a worker forgot to lock the back of the truck and as they drove off, a sealed bin and bag full of already voted ballots from early voting fell out.
“Thankfully, this was observed in real-time by upstanding residents who did the right thing and turned the bin and bag into the police department,” the department said.
According to the department, elections staff verified all seals were intact and nothing had been tampered with or damaged.
The department said although the incident was unintentional, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department “has a zero tolerance for error and therefore the employee was terminated.”