california voting elections
If an unofficial ballot “harvesting” bin is left in a public area, could it and its contents be considered abandoned property?
<p><a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2020/10/11/unofficial-ballot-drop-boxes-popping-up-throughout-the-state-worry-elections-officials/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">There are reports of unofficial ballot drop boxes appearing in California.</a> I'm wondering if legally ballots deposited in such bins could be considered abandoned by their owners. I understand that an official drop box and the ballots within are protected by law and tampering with them is a crime. But it would seem that those same protections would not necessarily apply to anything deposited into an unofficial box (and to any unofficial box itself).</p>
<p>To be clear, I am not promoting or condoning anyone do anything with any ballot or box, unless officially sanctioned. Just curious about the case law around this or an educated legal interpretation of the law.</p>

<p>One legal notion of &quot;abandoned property&quot; pertains to tenants leaving things behind after they leave – clearly not applicable. A second regards e.g. <a href="https://www.sco.ca.gov/Files-UPD/guide_upd_updlaw.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">bank accounts that haven't been used for a while</a>, again, clearly not relevant. The law regarding goods dropped in the street, and so on, is <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&amp;division=3.&amp;title=6.&amp;part=4.&amp;chapter=4.&amp;article=1." rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>. The law starts by saying</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Any person who finds a thing lost is not bound to take charge of it,
unless the person is otherwise required to do so by contract or law,
but when the person does take charge of it he or she is thenceforward
a depositary for the owner, with the rights and obligations of a
depositary for hire. Any person or any public or private entity that
finds and takes possession of any money, goods, things in action, or
other personal property, or saves any domestic animal from harm,
neglect, drowning, or starvation, shall, within a reasonable time,
inform the owner, if known, and make restitution without compensation,
except a reasonable charge for saving and taking care of the property.
Any person who takes possession of a live domestic animal shall
provide for humane treatment of the animal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Also relevant is the fact that <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=485.&amp;lawCode=PEN" rel="nofollow noreferrer">stealing lost property is a crime</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him
knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who
appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another
person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just
efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is
guilty of theft.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There is no specific legal definition of &quot;lost&quot;, so the courts would look at the facts and ask whether the property was indeed &quot;lost&quot; – clearly, it is not. Property that is intentionally placed somewhere and is unattended is not &quot;lost&quot;, and there is no law declaring open season on unattended property. This is true of bicycles, as well as unofficial ballot boxes.</p>
