Reading Beefing Up Security At Ballot Drop Box

READING, MA — Reading officials are working to enhance security at the town's ballot drop box. Secretary of the Commonwealth William issued an "urgent election directive" to communities after a ballot box was set ablaze in Boston on Sunday.

Town Manager Robert LeLacheur could not comment on specifically what security measures are being taken but said that Reading started following state guidance Sunday night. Mail-in ballots may be returned to the town business mailbox in the Town Hall parking lot, 16 Lowell Street.

A Boston man was arrested late Sunday night after authorities said he set fire to a Copley Square ballot box earlier that morning. The fire destroyed 35 of the 122 ballots inside, prompting Galvin to tell local officials to improve security around ballot boxes.

"What happened in the early hours of this morning to the ballot drop box in Copley Square is a disgrace to democracy, a disrespect to the voters fulfilling their civic duty, and a crime," Galvin and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a joint statement. "Our first and foremost priority is maintaining the integrity of our elections process and ensuring transparency and trust with our voters, and any effort to undermine or tamper with that process must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We ask voters not to be intimidated by this bad act, and remain committed to making their voices heard in this and every election."