SEATTLE (KOMO) — Dozens of undelivered ballots for the upcoming midterm elections were found among mail thrown into a dumpster in a Seattle park.
According to King County Elections (KCE) Chief of Staff Kendall Hodson, a voter called KCE customer service to report the incident.
Staff were dispatched to Golden Gardens Park, where they found two bins of mail in a dumpster.
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The bins contained 92 ballots.
Hodson said KCE reported the incident to the United States Postal Service for investigation.
Ballots have already been reissued to affected voters.
“Unfortunately, mail theft occurs and does not appear to slow down during election season. We tend to hear about a handful of incidents of discarded ballots after mail theft during each major election. What we hear consistently from our law enforcement partners, and as evidenced by the fact that they have been left behind, is that ballots are generally not the target of mail theft,” Hodson said.
“The U.S. Postal Service is fully committed to the safe and timely delivery of the nation’s election mail. We are aware of the situation reported in Seattle and understand that the matter falls under the USPS Office of Inspector General,” the U.S. Postal Service said in a statement.
King County voters who have not received a ballot should call 206-296-8683. Hodson said there are other options for obtaining a replacement ballot, which can be found at this link.
Those who find ballots in places they should not be are asked to email Elections@kingcounty.gov or call 206-296-VOTE. If possible, provide a photo and details of where the ballots were found.
“One thing that’s important to know is that the security to ensure that only a registered voter is voting on their ballot ultimately happens when we verify the voter’s signature and that they haven’t already returned their ballot,” Hodson said.
KCE spokesperson Halei Watkins shared additional details about the safeguards in place.
“Each voter has an ID and each individual ballot also has their own ID. We can only accept one ID and that ballot for each voter,” Watkins said. “We verify every signature on every ballot to ensure that you are the person who voted and returned your ballot.”
Election workers are trained in signature verification by the Washington State Patrol, and there is a clear process if there are any issues.
“If there is a question or if we are not sure that you are the person who voted for your ballot, we will hold your ballot for counting, contact you and ask you to confirm so that we can go ahead and count your ballot for you as well,” Watkins said.
If there is any doubt about the veracity of a signature, the voter has until the day before the official date of certification of the vote to resolve it.
During this time, election officials will send a letter to the voter or contact them by email or phone if this information was provided voluntarily to resolve any concerns.
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