Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows hasn’t provided voters with any new information regarding the discovery of 250 absentee ballots in an Amazon Prime shipment since her widely panned press conference at the State House.
But she has quietly replaced United Parcel Service, Inc (UPS) with a new courier company to handle the delivery of Election Day ballots, according to communications reviewed by the Maine Wire.
Some Maine towns were informed of the change on Tuesday with an email from Director of Elections & Voter Registration Heidi M. Peckham.
“Official (Election Day) ballots are beginning to ship. Please note that your ballots will be delivered by a different courier, Vital Delivery,” said Peckham.
“This company is approved and authorized by the Division of Elections. The Official Ballot Receipt deadline has changed to the date you receive your ballots,” she said.
Per the email, all municipalities should receive their Election Day ballots by Oct. 24 under the hastily changed voting plan.
The Secretary of State’s office declined to respond to multiple emails and phone calls placed Wednesday and Thursday.
The move comes more than two weeks after 250 absentee ballots were discovered in an Amazon box in Newburgh. The resident quickly brought the ballots to the Newburgh town office for safe keeping, but the fact that the story first emerged from Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson caused heartburn for Bellows.
Bellows addressed the ballot scandal in a press conference, but she raised more new questions than she answered. In speaking to press, Bellows mentioned an unnamed out-of-state company that believed it had come into possession of absentee ballot envelopes, as well as a shipment of absentee ballots to Ellsworth that had been found to be missing 250 ballots.
Although Bellows has repeatedly referred to unnamed “bad actors” as the explanation for the Amazon Prime ballots, election officials, including Bellows, haven’t provided any information since that press conference about the investigation, which she said includes the FBI.
The decision to ditch UPS is the first hint at where Bellows may suspects the “bad actor” may have compromised what she has referred to as the “gold standard” of election integrity.
During the investigation, Bellows has continued to fundraise and campaign for her Democratic gubernatorial bid, and she’s also sought to tightly control information that may emerge in the press.
An email sent Thursday morning instructed some municipal clerks to refer any media inquiries about ballot delivery directly to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division, warning them, “Do not fall for any high pressure tactics by them, claiming a deadline and just want a comment! Refer them to the SOS and thank them for stopping by.”
The abrupt switch to Vital Delivery has also raised new questions about transparency and oversight in the state’s election process, particularly the vendors that the Secretary of State enlists to help with administering elections.
If there’s a contract with Vital Delivery that might shed light on how the new ballot distribution arrangement came together, and how much it’s costing taxpayers, Bellows hasn’t been forthcoming with those details.
Calls were placed three times over two days, and emails were sent with specific questions about the agreement to Bellows’ office. However, the Secretary of State’s Office has not released any documentation or returned calls.
A search of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS) records turned up no record of any formal agreement with Vital Delivery.
The search included current contracts, master contracts, and recently awarded no-bid contracts.
A company representative from Vital Delivery said the state first contacted them on a Friday and followed up this Monday awarding them the contract.
As of Thursday, Vital Delivery said only 11 towns remained on its delivery schedule, with the rest expected to be completed by Monday.
The lack of a visible paper trail for the contract, the timing of the change, and the directive to shield local clerks from press inquiries all add to the growing intrigue around Maine’s biggest election integrity breach in decades.
