A Cuban-American driver made a startling discovery when he found a box and a bag of election ballots discarded near the intersection of the Turnpike and 211th Street in Cutler Bay, south of Miami. A video shared on the Instagram account Only in Dade captures the moment the driver stops his car, visibly shocked by what he has found.
In the footage, the driver approaches the scene, picking up a sealed plastic container marked with election tape and barcodes, along with a blue bag for ballots. "This is sealed, look at this... This is crazy," the Cuban remarks as he loads the materials into his vehicle to hand them over to a Miami-Dade police station.
Shortly thereafter, officials from the Elections Department arrived at the scene to retrieve the box and the bag. Christina White, the county's supervisor of elections, stated in comments reported by the Efe agency that the incident resulted from a "human error." An employee had neglected to close the rear door of the truck, causing the containers to fall out while traveling on the highway.
Human Error with Serious Implications
White emphasized that the election team confirmed the seals were intact and that the ballots—already scanned and tabulated—remained undamaged and unaltered. "Fortunately, this was observed in real time by honest citizens who did the right thing by turning the container and bag over to the police department," White added.
However, she noted that the department maintains a "zero-tolerance" policy for such errors, which led to the immediate dismissal of the employee involved.
Record Voter Turnout in Florida
This incident occurred amid a backdrop of high voter turnout in Florida, where over 4.5 million individuals have already cast their votes, according to the latest data from the state's Division of Elections. So far, 2,090,681 votes have been sent in by mail, and 2,508,243 have been cast at early voting centers.
Among these voters, 2,066,479 are Republicans, 1,565,445 are Democrats, 868,941 have no party affiliation, and 98,059 belong to minor parties.