Dozens of ballots found in stolen mail, reissued

(Update: More info from county clerk, sheriff’s office)

Mail stolen from more than 70 addresses across Deschutes County — including dozens of election ballots — was found Sunday on BLM land near Horse Ridge, southeast of Bend, authorities said Tuesday. The ballots, which had not been filled out, are being reissued to make sure voters can cast ballots in time.

A BLM law enforcement ranger on Sunday found stolen mail from around the county near the Horse Ridge summit along U.S. Highway 20 southeast of Bend, Deschutes County sheriff’s Sgt. Kent Vander Kamp said.

“We typically see this in the holiday season, when people receive gifts or cards, so it’s not uncommon to see this size of a theft,” Vander Kamp told NewsChannel 21 “I think it was just coincidental that it was this time of year. But ballots are not typically what we see in stolen mail.”

Rangers delivered the recovered mail to the sheriff’s office and deputies took over the investigation, he said.

During “unrelated investigations, more mail also was recovered by deputies from other remote locations around the county,” Vander Kamp said in a news release.

While processing the recovered mail for evidence, deputies found the stolen mail contained many mail ballots for the upcoming Nov. 6 election, as well as property tax, utility, medical and bank statements, the sergeant said.

“It does not appear that the ballots are being targeted by the thieves, as all of the recovered ballots remained sealed,” Vander Kamp said in a news release.

“Based on that the mail that was opened that’s been mostly checks, financial documents and things that maybe look valuable, but ballots were definitely not of an interest to the thief,” Vander Kamp said.

The Sheriff’s Office worked with the county clerk’s office on Tuesday to reissue election ballots. The remaining mail has been delivered to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for re-delivery.

“Please contact the Deschutes County Clerk’s Office if you have not yet received your ballot in the mail or suspect it may have been stolen,” Vander Kamp said. The office can be contacted at 541-388-6547.

County Clerk Nancy Blankenship told NewsChannel 21 she reissued 33 ballots Tuesday — the first time she’s seen this situation in some 15 years in the position. She said the ballots that were stolen and recovered had not been delivered to residents yet, so they were not filled out.

“The good thing is, it’s fairly small and we’ve worked through it. We’ve caught it, and we’re moving through to try to get those voters included, so their vote can be counted,” Blankenship said.

Vander Kamp said the ballot were reissued as a matter of timing and making sure, one week before the election, that those people still have an opportunity to vote.

He noted that once mail is in the mail system, it’s U.S. Postal Service property, so any stolen and recovered mail has to go first to the postal inspector in Portland, be recertified and put back out for delivery — which days.

Blankenship said that could mean the people who get new ballots also will get the original, delayed and re-sent ballot in the mail in coming days, before or after the election. But she said they will have a different ID number than the ones that are hand-delivered, so the same person cannot vote twice.

The sergeant said that with a trip to Portland, the chances of the original ballots getting back into voters’ hands in time are “slim,” so the sheriff’s office has offered to have deputies deliver the new ballots and explain what happened.

While technology means people are doing more bill-paying and other such transactions online, mail theft is still fairly common, especially in rural areas, where many mailboxes are still not locked and there are fewer people to witness and report the thieves, he said.

It also ramps up at this time of year, as Christmas mailings, tax bills and the like go out. “We’ve had people following around the Amazon guy, picking up packages,” Vander Kamp said.

Since Sunday alone, he said, two other stolen “mail dumps” have been found, one in the Redmond area, but it’s likely going to be hard to tell if they are connected, unless a fingerprint can be lifted from a package.

Vander Kamp said he wouldn’t be surprised if more ballots are found in those or other recovered mail, and getting those into voters’ hands are important.

“We’ve had elections decided by less than 50 votes,” he noted.

Vander Kamp said deputies also suggest contacting senders of any checks, payments or other valuables if they have not been received as scheduled.

To prevent mail theft in the future, the sheriff’s office recommends picking up your mail promptly after delivery, not leaving the mail in your mailbox overnight, arranging for credit cards or other valuables to be picked up at the post office, and having the post office hold your mail when traveling. Most importantly, Vander Kamp said, be aware of and report suspicious activity around mailboxes.

If you’re concerned about identity theft, data breaches or someone gaining access to your credit report without your permission, the sheriff’s office suggested considering placing a credit freeze on or closely monitoring your individual credit reports. More information about the process and other security options can be found at www.consumer.ftc.gov.