Ballot Drop-Box Decoration Committee Unveils Seasonal Wreath; State Declines to Comment, Again

RIVERDALE — The volunteer Ballot Drop-Box Decoration Committee unveiled its autumn wreath Tuesday, a tasteful arrangement of faux maple leaves and one (1) miniature flag, prompting the state elections office to decline comment for the fourth consecutive season.

“The boxes are secure. The boxes are also festive. These are not contradictory goals,” said committee chair Priscilla Nunn, who holds the self-appointed title of Director of Civic Curb Appeal. “A voter should feel welcomed by democracy. Ideally by a democracy with good foliage.”

The committee, founded in 2021 after a drop box was described in a local blog as “looking sad,” operates under strict guidelines: decorations must not obscure signage, must withstand 40-mph winds, and must not, under any circumstances, “imply endorsement of any season over another.”

“We had a whole thing about the spring garland,” Nunn admitted. “Someone said the pastel ribbons skewed festive. We switched to neutral burlap. Burlap offends no one. Burlap is the Switzerland of craft supplies.”

The wreath installation took forty-five minutes and required a step stool, two committee members, and a signed waiver from the county confirming the wreath “does not constitute electioneering.”

Not everyone is charmed. “It’s a metal box,” said local resident Gary Potts, 52. “I put my ballot in it. I don’t need it to also be a Pinterest board.”

The winter display — tentatively titled “Democracy in December” — is already in planning, with the committee deadlocked between miniature pinecones and “a tasteful string of battery-operated lights.” Nunn confirmed the lights would be “warm white, 2700 kelvin, the color temperature of trust.” The state elections office, asked for comment on the winter plans, replied “no comment,” a response Nunn has framed and hung beside the others. “Four seasons,” she said. “Four no-comments. We’re building a collection.”

The committee’s spring display — “Democracy in Bloom” — will feature seed packets taped to the box “so voters can take democracy home and plant it.” Nunn confirmed the seeds are native wildflowers. “Nonpartisan perennials,” she said. “They bloom for everyone. Even Mr. Potts, though he’ll probably call them ‘a bit much.'”

Mr. Potts, reached for further comment, allowed that the wreath was “fine, actually.” Nunn called it “the nicest thing he’s ever said about anything we do.” The committee is embroidering the quote on a throw pillow for the office.

Nunn was unmoved. “Mr. Potts also said the holiday banners downtown were ‘a bit much.’ Mr. Potts is entitled to his opinion, and we are entitled to our wreath.” The committee’s winter display — tentatively titled “Democracy in December” — is already in the planning stages.