Boston Police Arrest Man for Allegedly Setting Ballot Box on Fire

Amy Furr

Police arrested a man Sunday night for allegedly setting a ballot drop box on fire over the weekend in Boston, Massachusetts.

The suspect, 39-year-old Worldly Armand, is expected to be arraigned Monday in municipal court, according to WBZ 4.

“Police said he lit a fire inside the drop box outside of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square around 4 a.m. Sunday,” the report continued.

Prior to his arrest, the Boston Police Department tweeted two photos of the suspect:

In a news release Monday, the department said, “A query led to the discovery that the male had an active straight warrant out of Ipswich District Court for Receiving Stolen Property.”

Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin described the incident as a “deliberate arson attack.”

“I’m very angry. It is our intention to make sure that the individuals who did this are apprehended and prosecuted. We want to make sure of the integrity of the electoral process,” he stated.

The majority of the 122 ballots inside the drop box were not badly damaged, but between five and 10 of them were destroyed, Galvin explained.

“The city will mail a new ballot to all those voters whose ballots were put in the box during that time period. If those voters don’t recast their ballots, the city will count the ballots recovered from the box,” the WBZ 4 report said.

Armand faces a charge of Willful and Malicious Burning, according to the department’s news release.

“My immediate concern is to notify every city and town clerk in Massachusetts. I sent out an urgent directive this afternoon to secure ballot drop boxes. If at all possible, have them inside of municipal facilities,” Galvin told reporters on Sunday.

“If necessary, as we go down the stretch in this election and they need police officers there, that’s what they need to do. We’ll deal with the compensation issues later,” he concluded.

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