With news that officials in Washington and Oregon are investigating a series of fires set in ballot dropboxes on Monday morning, destroying hundreds of ballots days before Election Day, some are wondering just how safe their ballot is in L.A. County.
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Election workers at the City of Industry are busy tabulating mail-in ballots for over 5.5 million registered voters in L.A. County, including more than 32,000 military and overseas ballots.
Officials held a demonstration at the Ballot Processing Center to assure voters that precautions are being taken to maintain safety and integrity.
The center is staffed with 24/7 security guards, features cyber security monitoring, is fully fenced, and is equipped with hundreds of cameras.
Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan tells KNX News' Nataly Tavidian, "When we have intake of vote-by-mail ballots coming in from the US Postal Service or from our drop boxes, the first part of the process is to have the canine units scan those ballots." The ballots are then removed from the boxes and inspected before being counted.
The registrar's office also conducts regular briefing sessions with law enforcement agencies.
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna says the department is on top of security from pre-election through the days following certification.
"Although there are no credible threats, we will always be prepared to respond swiftly to any incidents or threats," Sheriff Luna said.
His department is also in charge of transporting the ballots from 648 voting locations throughout L.A. County, some being flown in via helicopter. While the public can observe the process from a gated area at the ballot processing center, just remember that interfering with the election process can be a felony.
Though no deputies will be at the polling sites, they will be nearby. Luna urges people to report anything concerning to polling officials, and a deputy will be there immediately.
The first ballot counting update comes on November 6th, with updates from the registrar's office every 1 to 3 days until official certification by December 3rd.
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