A fire broke out in an official ballot drop box in Los Angeles County on Sunday night, damaging dozens of ballots, according to Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano.
Los Angeles County Fire Department crews arrived on scene and extinguished the blaze, which appeared to be intentional, even though authorities are still investigating the cause.
"People are frustrated across the country, it's no different in Baldwin Park", Lozano said as quoted by the ABC7. "The incident that happened...does send a very bad message, as it is, the frustration with the voting box and then this occurs."
Janice Hahn, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from the 4th district, said on Monday that all the ballots have been accounted for and those voters affected by the incident are being sent new ballots to fill out.
Meanwhile, Hilda L Solis, LA County supervisor for the 1st district, has said that the county has requested that the state attorney as well as the FBI probe the incident: "The arson of an official ballot drop box … has all the signs of an attempt to disenfranchise voters and call into question the security of our elections."
The mayor of Baldwin Park estimates 60-100 ballots were damaged when someone started a fire inside an official drop box last night. (📷 George Silva) @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/RqmM0gB86T
— Tina Patel (@tina_patel) October 19, 2020
