Newbold repurposes outdoor ballot box to improve indoor drop box

The April 7 spring election is on the way, and the town of Newbold has made some improvements on where absentee ballots will be deposited: its triple-locked new drop box.

After the newly built Newbold Community Center opened about two years ago, town clerk Kim Gauthier and treasurer Jodie Hess found its drop box was a little too small to hold all the tax payments and absentee ballots entering through the slot in the building’s outside wall.

“A couple citizens ... expressed concern to the treasurer during tax collection that they could see envelopes in the box (when looking in through the slot) from the outside,” said Gauthier.

The drop box was in a locked closet in a locked office, so it was secure, Gauthier emphasized. 

“We just needed more space,” she said.

Last month, that drop box was replaced with a much more spacious one that had already proven it was up to the job. It’s the large absentee ballot box that had been outside Newbold’s previous town hall. 

Unused since the new community center was built, the absentee ballot box was brought inside, where after the addition of a longer chute it fits perfectly inside the locked closet that the outside drop-off slot leads to.

“So now we probably have, I would say, four times the amount of size that we used to have,” said Gauthier. “And it’s still locked in a locked office in a locked cabinet in a locked closet. It’s super-secure … three layers of locks.”

The improvement was made just in time for the spring election. 

“We’re getting (absentee) ballots, and they’ll start to be mailed out next week,” said Gauthier.

Adding a camera system to the area was discussed at Thursday’s Newbold town board meeting, which will be covered in our March 6 issue.

Ardith Carlton may be reached at [email protected].