Completed Ballots Fall Off Truck in Florida

An election worker in Florida has been fired after early-voting ballots fell off a truck during transport. The worker had forgotten to lock the back of the truck before leaving a library serving as an early-voting center, according to election officials. "As they drove off, one sealed bin and one sealed bag fell out, containing already voted ballots from early voting," the Miami-Dade County Elections Department said Tuesday, per the Hill. It was an "unintentional" human error, but as the department has a "zero tolerance for error ... the employee was terminated," it said.

A driver was filming as he came upon the fallen items in the middle of a road in Cutler Bay, then took them to police, per the Hill. The ballots had already been scanned and counted at the library. However, the paper ballots serve as the "backup record for the election," Miami-Dade Election Supervisor Christina White tells CBS News. "Upon arrival at the police department, elections staff verified all seals were intact and nothing was tampered with or damaged," the department said. "Once at elections headquarters, all items were accounted for and all seals were once again verified." (More Election 2024 stories.)