Miami-Dade ballots found on side of road, worker fired

MIAMI – A Miami-Dade elections worker was fired after a sealed bin and a sealed bag of ballots fell from their truck and were found on the side of the road in Cutler Bay.
The incident occurred near SW 211th Street and the Turnpike Extension, and the ballots had already been scanned and tabulated at an early voting site.
The Miami-Dade Elections Department attributed the incident to human error, explaining that the worker forgot to lock the back of the truck, resulting in the sealed containers falling out.
A passerby spotted the bin and bag, then brought them to a local police station. According to Deputy Supervisor of Elections Roberto A. Rodríguez, all seals were intact, and the ballots were verified as untampered.
While the ballots had already been counted, some voters expressed concern over the mishap. Orlando Puche, who learned about the situation 24 hours later, said, “I feel frustrated, I feel betrayed.”
Despite reassurances from Miami-Dade Election Supervisor Christina White that the ballots were already processed and secure, the incident raised doubts among some voters about the security of their votes.
Christina White confirmed that the employee responsible for the negligence was fired, emphasizing that the department has zero tolerance for such mistakes. “Those ballots were already tabulated,” she reiterated, assuring voters their votes were safe in the system.
Gerardo Cuellas, who voted in Doral, expressed confidence in the process. “I’m not worried. I find it hard to believe these people are not prepared to handle something like this,” he said.
The elections department continues to reassure voters that the ballots were securely processed and that the dropped containers served only as backup records.