Ballot box found in middle of road days out from US election

Dashcam footage has captured the moment an election ballot box was discovered in the middle of a road days out from the US election.

An election worker has been fired after a ballot box was discovered in the middle of a road in the US, days out from the high-stakes election.

Dashcam footage shared on Instagram shows the moment a sealed bright blue election box and a sealed bag of ballots were spotted by a driver in Cutler Bay, Florida on Tuesday, local time.

In the footage, the driver can be seen stopping his car and retrieving the ballots from the middle of the road, before taking them to a local police station.

The box was clearly marked with a sticker reading “official election materials” along with a serial number.

The box was found in the middle of the road in Florida on Tuesday. Picture: Instagram@onlyindade

“Last night, an individual came across a box full of ballots and other documents on exit 11 of the Turnpike, at the intersection of 211th St. in Cutler Bay,” Instagram account ‘Only in Dade’ wrote on social media.

“He immediately picked them up and took them to the police station, where they have been properly secured.”

A driver spotted the bright blue box and stopped the car. Picture: Instagram@onlyindade

The box was marked with a sticker reading “official election materials”. Picture: Instagram@onlyindade

In a statement, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department said it was aware of the incident, which it attributed to “human error”.

“The worker forgot to lock the back of the truck and as they drove off, one sealed bin and one sealed bag fell out, containing already voted ballots from early voting,” the statement read.

“Thankfully, this was observed in real time by upstanding citizens who did the right thing and turned the bin and bag into the police department.”

It noted election staff checked all seals were intact and confirmed no tampering or damage had occurred.

“Once at Elections Headquarters, all items were accounted for and all seals were once again verified,” the spokesman added.

“While unintentional, the Elections Department has zero tolerance for error and therefore the employee was terminated.”

Christina White, the county’s elections supervisor, said that the ballots had already been scanned and tabulated at a South Dade Regional Library’s early-voting place, according to The Miami Herald.

The ballots were taken to a local police station. Picture: Instagram@onlyindade

Ballot boxes set alight

It comes after hundreds of voters were destroyed across two ballot box fires in Vancouver and Portland.

Incendiary devices were used to ignite both fires, in what are believed to be related incidents.

Hundreds of ballots were ruined by the flames. Picture: KATU 2 News

“It appears that a device was attached to the outside of the ballot drop box that resulted in the ballots being ignited,” Clark County auditor Greg Kimsey told Oregon Live.

“We don’t have the exact number [of ballots], but it was hundreds,” Kimsey added.

Kimsey told the New York Post the most recent ballot pick-up from the box had taken place Saturday at 11am

“Anyone who deposited ballots after 11am Saturday morning should contact us immediately,” he said.

“Our team will replace their ballot.”

Early voting is underway in a number of US states including Florida and Washington.