Video footage submitted to Only In Dade (@onlyindade) shows a driver stopping at an intersection on 211th Street in Cutler Bay around 9 p.m. after seeing a Miami-Dade County ballot container in the middle of the roadway.
The clip shows the car's occupants examining a large blue box labeled with stickers that read "OFFICIAL ELECTIONS MATERIALS" and the number "RTN009854" in large letters — and carrying it into a police station.
MDPD spokesperson Angel Rodriguez tells New Times that the police department is aware of the incident and looking into it.
In a statement released late Tuesday morning, the Miami-Dade Elections Department attributed the incident to "human error."
"The [elections department] 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 reads. "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."
The department says police verified that all seals were intact, and nothing was tampered or damaged.
"While unintentional, the Elections Department has zero tolerance for error and therefore the employee was terminated," the statement reads.
This comes as early voting is underway in South Florida.
While registered voters must go to their assigned precinct on Election Day (Tuesday, November 5), they can vote at any early voting site during the early voting period, which runs through November 3. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This incident also comes on the heels of reported instances of election interference in other parts of the country.
National Public Radio has reported that ballots have been set ablaze in several states ahead of Election Day.
On Monday in Portland, Oregon, police responded to a fire that was reportedly started by "an incendiary device" inside a ballot drop box, damaging three ballots.
Hours later, in Vancouver, Washington, another drop box was set on fire. Officials say "hundreds" of ballots were badly damaged as a result.
