CLEVELAND — After someone set fire to ballot drop-off boxes in at least two states, a Cuyahoga County Board of Elections spokesman admits there are fears of copycat attacks here in Northeast Ohio.
“People need to know that if they have bad intentions, it’s not going to work and they’re going to get caught,” Mike West said.
West said there is 24-hour, seven-day-a-week surveillance of the county’s drive-up drop box outside the Board of Elections office in Cleveland.
He also pointed out that in more than 10 years, the county’s ballot box has not been vandalized like the fires set in Washington and Oregon that damaged or destroyed hundreds of ballots.
West would not get specific as to the county’s security measures but did confirm the drop off box is equipped with fire suppression canisters.
“All of our fire suppression paraphernalia is fully functioning and we're very mindful of the need to check it on a regular basis so it will function,” West said.
As of Wednesday, elections officials said more than 10,000 ballots had been dropped off in Cuyahoga County.
A spokesman for Summit County’s election board said they also equipped the county’s drop-off box with fire suppression equipment.
Lorain County has not, but a spokeswoman said the box is manned around the clock.
