Yuma County votes to add ballot drop box cameras, drawing privacy concerns
Yuma County votes to add ballot drop box cameras, drawing privacy concerns
Publish Date: 2026-05-18 21:28:00
Source Domain: www.azfamily.com
YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — A move by Yuma County leaders aimed at increasing election security is facing pushback from some voters who say the plan raises new privacy questions.
During a meeting this morning, the Yuma County Board of Supervisors voted to approve adding security cameras to ballot drop boxes used for early voting. County officials say the cameras are intended to help ensure ballots are not tampered with.
What’s changing
The cameras are expected to be placed outside public libraries where voters can drop off early ballots.
County Recorder David Lara said concerns about activity around drop boxes during last year’s election helped drive the decision to add cameras ahead of both the primary and general elections.
Why some voters are concerned
Public comment and letters read during the meeting highlighted two main issues:
- Some voters said they do not want cameras near their ballots.
- Others objected to cameras being installed at public libraries, which are used by residents for many purposes beyond voting.
Several residents questioned who would have access to video footage and how long it would be stored.
One former teacher also raised broader concerns about the role of video surveillance in elections.
“I taught thousands of students using the approved Arizona curriculum about the election process at the local state and federal level at no time was video equipment included in our discussion, as it didn’t exist for obvious reasons,” the teacher said.
Lara said the cameras are meant to monitor the ballot drop boxes — not voters.
“To set them up in the libraries, I have to have my camera system in each drop box it is not to video the people to come out of the library… cars it is only to zoom in on the box itself for the security of the election transparency,” he said.
County leaders said the library director will have access to the camera feed to monitor what’s happening at the locations.
They also emphasized that the video cannot be shared on social…
