San Diego Ballot Box Abandoned On Street For Over A Week After Election Day: ‘Very Alarming’

An official ballot drop box in San Diego County remained sitting along a roadside for more than a week after Election Day, raising concerns among local residents about whether ballots had been properly collected.

The ballot box was still standing Friday on Hilton Head Road near the entrance to Hilton Head County Park in Rancho San Diego, days after the June 2 election had concluded.

Resident Stephanie Melaney said she was shocked to discover the box still in place when she noticed it on Thursday.

“To me, it was actually very alarming that there’s a ballot box still here this length of time, and it’s not been picked up,” Melaney told CBS.

Her primary concern centered on whether voters who deposited ballots in the box could have confidence that their votes had been collected.

“If somebody in the neighborhood put a ballot in here, do they have any assurance that it was picked up, or it’s still just sitting there,” she said.

The concerns prompted a response from the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, which insisted that all ballots had been secured on election night.

According to the Registrar’s Office, the drop box had been available from May 5 through June 2 and was locked at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Election workers reportedly retrieved all ballots from the container that same evening.

Officials emphasized that the ballot box itself was empty and locked, despite remaining at the location for several days afterward.

The Registrar’s Office said temporary drop boxes installed at county parks are generally removed between elections but are secured with heavy-duty chains and anchored to concrete pads or other immovable fixtures to prevent theft or tampering.

Election officials added that it is not unusual for some ballot boxes to remain at their locations for a period following an election and said the Rancho San Diego box was scheduled to be removed Friday afternoon.

Melaney, however, argued that the container should have been removed much sooner.

“It should have been picked up on June 2 in the evening,” she said.

She also questioned whether placing the drop box near a park entrance instead of a heavily trafficked public building was the best location.

The Registrar’s Office defended the site, stating that the design and placement of all county drop boxes comply with accessibility requirements and security standards.

County officials indicated that the same ballot drop box location is expected to be used again ahead of San Diego County’s Nov. 3 general election.