According to several April 1997 Stanly News & Press newspaper articles, at some point during 1996, an Albemarle resident, who was renting a home on Long Street, found a mysterious box under his house. Some time later, when voting during the election that November, he recognized his box as the same as the ballot boxes in use at the polling location. In March 1997, he met with the staff of the elections office and gave them the box. On April 1, elections officials, along with the police chief and representatives of both political parties, met to open the box to examine its contents. Elections officials, who admitted they never threw anything away, actually found a key to the box at their office. Based on ballots found inside, it was determined that the box was from the 1960 election and was likely used in North Albemarle Precinct No. 5. Due to the fact there was no tally sheet, it was felt the votes had most likely been counted but the box had later been misplaced. Today the box is a part of the Stanly County History Center collection. {Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}