We're working with the proper authorities to conduct a thorough inventory of the ballots collected through the Copley Square ballot box yesterday afternoon through the early morning of today, and that investigation remains ongoing.

While this remains an active investigation, an immediate review of the contents of the Copley Square ballot box showed that it held about 122 ballots, 87 of which were legible and able to be processed.

Before the incident, which occurred around 4 a.m., City officials had last collected the ballots at this dropbox at 2:29 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

The City will mail a new ballot to all those voters whose ballots were identified as being in the Copley Square dropbox at that time. If those voters do not recast ballots, the City will hand count the ballots recovered from the box.

Voters should also keep in mind that they can still vote early through October 30, or vote on Election Day (November 3). Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Election Day.

We're encouraging any Boston voter who deposited their ballot at the Copley Square dropbox between 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 24, and about 4 a.m. on Sunday, October 25, to check the status of their ballot by calling 617-635-2211.

The ballot dropbox at Copley Square did not suffer physical outer damage and continues to be available for voters to deposit their completed ballots.

Please note: All ballot dropboxes are under 24-hour surveillance and emptied on a daily basis. Ballots collected are brought to us to be counted on election night with each voter’s precincts.

For ballot dropbox locations and vote-by-mail info, visit: http://boston.gov/vote-by-mail