Mail theft continues to be an ongoing problem in the Bay Area. People in one Berkeley neighborhood say a recent mail theft may have included their voting ballots.
Jule Chervin said she returned from a trip to her Berkeley home on Monday, she said she expected to see her vote-by-mail ballot. When it wasn’t there, she emailed the neighborhood group to see if her neighbors had received theirs.
“As soon as I sent it out, the group started responding, 'I don’t have my ballot either!' I don’t have ballot either!'” she said.
Shortly after, a resident said that a mail carrier provided him with a possible explanation.
“Ballots for our block and some on Fairview Street were taken when there was a theft of the truck,” Chervin said.
The local U.S. Postal inspector confirmed a mail theft took place around the corner from Chervin's home on Oct. 9 near the 3100 block of King Street. The truck was broken into while the carrier was delivering mail to homes.
“When the mail carrier got back to the truck, some of it had been broken into and some of the mail had been taken out of the truck,” said t, USPS Postal Inspector Matthew Norfleet.
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Norfleet could not confirm if ballots were taken but Berkeley police said the mail carrier who reported the crime told officers that ballots and election material were inside of the truck at the time.
Pete Suratos has the full story in the video above.
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