Domestic violent extremists could target election equipment, federal intelligence alert warns

CHICAGO (WLS) -- With early voting in Chicago a little more than two weeks away, there is a new federal intelligence alert warning that domestic violent extremists consider election equipment soft targets.

Among the equipment potentially at risk are ballot drop boxes which are becoming increasingly popular for early voters -- making them potential targets for election disruptors in Illinois, California and 25 other states that use the boxes.

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In 2020, just weeks before Election Day, authorities in Los Angeles County found a lockbox full of early ballots on fire. A ballot box in Boston was also targeted that same year. Those attacks are not considered connected.

According to a bulletin from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis obtained by the I-Team, American law enforcement is warning that now in 2024, domestic threat groups could plan on sabotaging ballot drop boxes and other parts of the election infrastructure.

But, Max Bever, with the Chicago Board of Elections, is confident the ballot box equipment used in Chicago is safe.

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"All drop boxes are connected to our early voting sites, and they're under the watch of security cameras and Board staff. We do not have any drive through drop boxes in Chicago. We do have one long term outdoor drop box, and that's located just outside our building at 69 West Washington, which does have 24-hour ground security as well as under the watch of cameras," explained Bever.

Most drop boxes in Chicago and elsewhere are designed to repel attacks and city election officials tell the I-Team there has been no attempted sabotage, and they plan to keep it that way.

"Our secure drop boxes in Chicago don't have an opening larger than a mail ballot, so it's a very small window. They come with unique locks and Tamper Evident seals, and they're all connected to a heavy secure base that's fastened to the floor."

In Chicago, drop-box ballots are collected at the end of each day; transported to the main city election center and locked up according to authorities until they can be processed. And almost half of vote-by-mail ballots in the spring primary were not returned by mail. They were slipped into drop boxes-with voters choosing to streamline the process.