The Honest Elections Project, a non-partisan organization dedicated to ensuring election integrity, submitted two Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) requests for records on ballot handling on Thursday after a Newburgh woman received 250 blank Maine state election ballots in her Amazon package.
[RELATED: Maine Woman Discovers Hundreds of Election Ballots in Amazon Package as State Considers Voter ID…]
“There should be a zero-tolerance policy for ‘misplacing’ ballots in any way. The public deserves elections they can trust, and incidents like the one in Newburgh damage confidence in the integrity of the process,” said Honest Elections Project Executive Director Jason Snead.
This issue deserves to be fully investigated and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows owes it to the public to explain how this happened and what she is doing to ensure that all ballots are properly accounted for before November’s elections,” he added.
The Maine Wire first revealed the shocking discovery of hundreds of ballots in an Amazon package, along with rice and a toy lightsaber, on Wednesday, sparking Republican calls for a federal investigation and drawing national attention.
[RELATED: Maine Republicans Question Election Integrity After 250 Ballots Discovered in Amazon Package…]
The Honest Election Project submitted two FOAA requests: one to the Town of Newburgh’s election office and one to the office of Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.
From Newburgh, the organization requested all communications discussing the delivery of official 2025 referendum ballots to a Newburgh citizen, documents containing or reflecting communications between town employees and the Secretary of State’s office regarding the delivery of the ballots, records of shipping receipts for the ballots, and communications between the town election office and the shipping company delivering the ballots.
The FOAA to the Secretary of State requested similar documents and communications, but added a request for communications with the company responsible for printing the ballots as well.
Under Maine law, government entities must respond to acknowledge FOAA requests within five business days and must provide a good-faith estimate of how long it will take to compile the records.
Bellows has refused to respond to requests from The Maine Wire for comments on the ballot scandal, which calls into question the integrity of the elections she oversees.
The scandal comes as Mainers prepare for an important referendum vote on Ballot Question 1, which would require photo ID for voters and make changes to absentee voting in an attempt to prevent voter fraud.
That question was on the ballots sent to the Newburgh woman.
[RELATED: Ballots in an Amazon Box Discovery Overshadows Maine Secretary of State Bellows’ Governor Campaign…]
The scandal also comes at a particularly inopportune moment for Bellows, who is currently running for Governor as a Democrat.
