A Mysterious Delivery of Blank Ballots in Maine Sparks Investigation
A woman in Maine received a peculiar delivery last week — 250 blank state ballots in an Amazon package. This unexpected event has triggered an investigation by both state and federal authorities.
The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, said she ordered coffee, rice, and paper plates. She was completely surprised when the ballots arrived in the same package. According to reports, the package appeared to have been opened and resealed, suggesting that someone had tampered with it before sending it out.
She handed the ballots over to the Newburgh town office. On the same day, the town of Ellsworth, located about 40 miles away, reported that 250 absentee ballots were missing.
This strange incident occurred just days before Maine residents were allowed to vote early by mail in a state referendum. One of the referenda is about whether the state should require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who is also running for governor, expressed her confidence that law enforcement would determine who was responsible for the incident. “Any bad actor will be held accountable. We will not stop until we have answers,” she stated during a press conference at the Maine State House in Augusta.
Bellows mentioned that her office, which oversees statewide elections, has partnered with the Maine Attorney General, the Maine State Police, the FBI, and an investigation team with the US Postal Service to find out what happened.
“Whatever happened last week, and we will find out what happened, will not impact our election,” Bellows vowed.
Amazon released a statement explaining that one of their employees was likely not responsible for tampering with the package. “We’re cooperating with the law enforcement agencies investigating this incident. Based on our initial findings, it appears that this package was tampered with outside of our fulfillment and delivery network, and not by an Amazon employee or partner,” the company said in a statement.
Maine Republicans have expressed doubts about Bellows leading the investigation. They cited her refusal to hand over voter registration data to federal authorities, which could help ensure that ineligible voters were not on the rolls.
Maine House Republican Leader Billy-Bob Faulkingham and Senate Republican Leader Trey Stewart sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel on October 1, before Bellows announced the FBI would be assisting with the investigation.
“Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has consistently shown she is willing to put partisanship over the safety and security of Maine elections,” they wrote. “She has used her office to refuse compliance with the Department of Justice, even going as far as telling President Trump to ‘go jump in the Gulf of Maine’ in response to routine requests for voter registration data.”
In September, the Department of Justice sued Maine for not handing over the data, with Bellows arguing that the DOJ was engaging in a “fishing expedition for sensitive voter information.”
Bellows also removed now-President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which states that no one who has “engaged in insurrection” can legally hold public office. The Supreme Court overturned this action and forced Bellows to return Trump back to the primary ballot.
Trump won the contest on March 5, 2024, with 71 percent of the vote, defeating his only rival, Nikki Haley. In the general election, former Vice President Kamala Harris won Maine.
