The ballot collection box on Alaska Street in the West Seattle Junction was apparently contaminated with feces on Saturday afternoon. King County Elections officials were notified via Twitter and responded quickly. They said, "Ballots are fine, box is good to go. Still watch your step as the team didn’t have materials with them to clean up the sidewalk... It's important to us that voters are able to access ballot drop boxes and vote early Our team was able to get out there and clean it all up. No ballots were harmed! We'll have teams out today emptying drop boxes and supporting voters with any issues they report."
Drop boxes are emptied daily in teams of two trained King County Elections staff with a comprehensive set of security procedures. As we get closer to Election Day, pick-ups become even more frequent and all locations will be staffed on Mon. and Tues. of Election Week.
According to election officials, they are posting unarmed plain clothes guards at certain drop box location who can de-escalate situations where voters could feel intimidated to drop their ballots. Police officers and deputies will also provide additional security at times at high-traffic locations.
Is there a camera aimed at this box? If not, why not? EVERY ballot box should be under surveillance by webcam for just this (very predictable) reason.