Education

Teacher Discovers Sealed Ballot Box In Florida School

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Neetu Arnold Contributor
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A teacher discovered a sealed ballot box left at a polling site in Florida on Thursday.

Sunshine Elementary School resource teacher Lakeisha Sorey found the box in the afternoon that read it was for provisional ballots, ABC7 News reported Thursday.

Voters whose eligibility is questionable, like having improper IDs, submit provisional ballots, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Such ballots can be critical in close races where it can make or break candidates.

“I did not touch it,” Sorey said, according to ABC7. “I knew that the elections were a federal thing, so I didn’t want any of those issues. I didn’t want there to be any interference.”

Sorey reportedly called her friend and Democratic Florida state Rep. Shevrin Jones to figure out the next steps. Jones worked closely with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, according to ABC7.

“I don’t think you’d lock up extra ballot paper,” Jones said, ABC7 reported. “I’m hoping someone will at least go verify and make sure there are no ballots inside the box.”

An election official said the box was holding supplies, according to ABC7.

Provisional ballots are transferred to an orange bag from the box and taken to an election warehouse after polls shut down, Broward County Elections Voter Equipment Center Director Dozel Spencer said, ABC7 reported. Jones was not sure how officials would know the contents of the box without checking it.

The elementary school is located in Broward County, a county that generally leans on the Democratic side. (RELATED: Rubio Warns: Dems Are Actively Trying To Steal The Florida Election)

Broward and Palm Beach Counties had problems with tallying votes in the 2000 presidential election between former President George W. Bush and Democratic candidate Al Gore.

A judge found in May that Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes’s office destroyed ballots in 2016. Snipes also mishandled mail-in ballots, according to a judge in August.

“We are 48 hours after the election and we are in a cluster mess-up,” Jones said, ABC7 reported. “It’s unfortunate that we are in this situation again — Broward County is the laughingstock of the country.”

Gillum conceded the Florida governor’s race to former GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday. However, vote totals found the two candidates were less than half a percent apart on Thursday and Gillum backtracked on his decision.

A recount is required if a race is closer than 0.5 percent, the Sentinel reported.

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