MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis Police report sent to ABC24 Monday detailed an incident where a Shelby County poll worker's car was broken into, with the suspect stealing keys that could open ballot boxes the day before the Memphis city elections on Oct. 5.
According to the report from Memphis Police which was obtained by ABC24, on Thursday, Oct. 4, a Shelby County Election Commission poll worker woke up to her car windows smashed, and a backpack stolen.
The woman told police, along with her cell phone and $1,200 in cash, keys opening ballot boxes and codes for the Oct. 5 election were stolen.
Police were able to locate the ballot box keys north of where the break-in occurred later in the day Thursday, which were returned to the poll worker. MPD said 18-year-old Mardarious Boyce was arrested and the poll worker's backpack was still missing.
In a statement sent to ABC24 minutes after our initial communication Monday, the Shelby County Election Commission said election codes weren't stolen, and the integrity of the Oct. 5 election was "intact:"
"We regret that an election worker's car was recently victimized. Thankfully, she remained safe, the incident happened away from our offices and polling locations, and the complete integrity of the October 5th election remained in place and without compromise.
The election worker initially believed that election codes may have been among the items stolen from her car. They were not. Further, our systems have layers of protection, so any unauthorized use of election keys, codes, or anything else, would be immediately flagged through our system should they ever wind up in the wrong hands.
Existing protocol prevents election workers from leaving sensitive election items in personal cars. This incident is under investigation."
