Election mail found in Renton is under review

Late last week, Washington State Republican Chairman and State Representative Jim Walsh posted a video on social media claiming that a box of outbound, unvoted ballots from previous elections was found by a dumpster in Renton.

Since being made aware of the ballots, King County Elections has been working closely with both local and federal law enforcement, the Secretary of State, and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Earlier today the United States Postal Inspection Service took custody of the ballots and is collaborating with the Renton Police Department on the investigation. Because the mail included both out-of-state and federal election mail, Elections is coordinating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Upon initial review, the ballots appear to be outgoing ballots that were not picked up by the voter after being delivered to a private mailbox location.

“Representative Walsh claims to care about the security of our elections and the health of our democracy. If that were the case, the responsible thing to do would have been to immediately turn over any undelivered mail to the authorities. This is clearly an effort to push a false narrative about elections and vote-by-mail,” stated King County Director of Elections Julie Wise. “There was no opportunity for fraud here and holding onto other people’s ballots to make a public spectacle is unethical. I am grateful for the quick work of our law enforcement partners to take custody of these ballots, and for all they do to protect elections and election workers.”

The Secretary of State’s Office has been actively involved in this process and is reminding voters of the proper actions to take if you come into possession of someone else’s ballot.   

“If someone comes across an undelivered ballot, they should return it to the sender,” said Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. “They should be turned over to law enforcement when requested, not opened or posted on social media. Every eligible voter in Washington deserves to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Now that the ballots are in law enforcement custody, an unbiased investigation can take place.”

King County Elections and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office expect to support law enforcement in researching the ballots in question and reviewing all relevant laws. 

King County Elections mails out more than 1.4 million ballots every election, multiple times per year. If a ballot doesn’t reach the intended voter, they can easily request a replacement to make sure they are able to cast their vote. 

Both the original ballot and the replacement are uniquely tied to the individual, and only one ballot will ever be accepted per voter. No ballot will ever be opened and counted without first verifying the voter’s signature to ensure it was voted by the intended recipient.  If the signature on the return envelope does not match the signature on the voter’s registration record, King County Elections reaches out by mail, phone, and email to alert the voter to the issue so they can fix it and have their ballot counted. 

Voters are strongly encouraged to sign up for text and email alerts to easily track their ballot at each step of the process.