Maine GOP state lawmakers are asking Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel for a federal investigation into an incident involving state ballots that were found in an Amazon customer’s package.
The Republican leaders sent a letter to Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel, citing a report by a Maine news outlet that a Newburgh resident received an Amazon package containing 250 official state election ballots.
The Washington Times reached out to the Justice Department and FBI for comment.
According to WMTW News 8, the Newburgh resident stated that she had ordered paper plates, rice and coffee from Amazon.
But when she opened the package, she said, it appeared to have been opened previously and retaped, so she expected the items to be damaged.
Instead, she said she found all the items she ordered, along with hundreds of blank Maine state ballots for the November election.
The individual who received the package alerted the Newburgh town office, and law enforcement responded to retrieve the ballots.
Republican legislators say in their letter to the Justice Department that Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, “has consistently shown she is willing to put partisanship over the safety and security of Maine elections.”
“She has used her office to refuse compliance with the Department of Justice, even going as far as telling President Trump to quote ’Go jump in the Gulf of Maine’ in response to routine requests for voter registration data requested under the National Voter Registration Act,” they wrote.
“Given Secretary Bellows continued refusal to comply with federal law and her complete lack of transparency, we request the Department of Justice immediately open an investigation into the security of Maine’s elections. The discovery of the ballots comes slightly over a month before Election Day, and only days before Absentee Voting begins,” their letter stated.
Ms. Bellows has ordered an investigation.
“Safe and secure elections are my top priority,” she said in a statement. “As soon as we became aware of allegations of ballots being received outside of the appropriate chain of custody, I immediately initiated an investigation through my Secretary of State’s law enforcement division.”
She added, “Law enforcement is working diligently to determine who is responsible, and they will be held accountable. We will not stop until we have answers.”
The GOP state lawmakers say Ms. Bellows has not “provided any details of who will be conducting the investigation into the matter” or whether the investigation will be conducted by an external agency.
“There are federal criminal violations that may have occurred, including, but not limited to mail fraud and election fraud. Therefore, we requested the FBI open an investigation into potential violations of federal law,” the letter says.
The incident happened just weeks before Question 1, a voter ID referendum, is expected to appear on the Maine ballot.
As of Sept. 30, the secretary of state’s office shows 19,352 ballots have been requested and 7,244 have been issued.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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