Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Utah election officials have implemented safety measures for ballot drop boxes, including fire suppressants and 24/7 camera monitoring.
- Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman emphasized strategic placement in well-lit, populated areas and daily law enforcement patrols.
- Ballot slots are designed to prevent tampering, and in case of fire, a unique code system ensures vote integrity.
SALT LAKE CITY — In the wake of two ballot boxes being set ablaze in Washington and Oregon, Utah election officials say the state's ballot boxes have several safety protections, including fire suppressants.
"We have contingency plans on top of contingency plans to make sure your vote is safe, secure and we're able to accurately count it," said Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman.
In addition to the ability to extinguish fires, drop boxes are also monitored by camera 24/7 by cameras, a requirement recently put into state law. They're also purposely placed in well-lit, populated places.
"We have really put a lot of thought into where we've placed all of our drop boxes throughout Salt Lake County. We've chosen well-lit areas that are heavily, populated. So even if somebody attempted to do something like this, which they won't, it would be caught right away," Chapman said.
Chapman also said Salt Lake County drop boxes and polling locations have extra patrols. "I have law enforcement patrolling and picking up from our drop box every single day, including Sundays; (it) helps guarantee that we are safe," she said.
Another safety measure is that the slots on the drop boxes where you place your ballot are very thin, allowing only one or two ballots to be put in at a time. That helps prevent other things from being dropped in them.
Chapman said the system would salvage most of the balls if a fire broke out in a drop box.
"As soon as it detects smoke, it will extinguish it. It uses a fire suppressant material," she said.
Ballot drop box fires under investigation in Oregon, Washington after hundreds of ballots destroyed
Federal authorities are investigating fires at two ballot boxes reported Monday morning in the Portland, Oregon, area that destroyed hundreds of ballots at one location, as well as another fire reported earlier this month.However, if ballots were destroyed, Utah has also thought through how to ensure your vote still counts.
"Our mail ballots have a unique nine-digit code and a bar code that's associated with it," Chapman said.
That code is unique to the voter and the election, allowing county clerks to tell whether someone has already voted.
"We are very, very much on top of making sure one voter, one vote," she said.
Utah also offers in-person ballot-casting options, so if your ballot was destroyed, that is always an option. Early in-person voting is open now in every county in the state.
