Undelivered ballots were found in a dumpster at Seattle’s Golden Gardens Park. King County Elections said affected voters have been sent replacements.
SEATTLE — The discovery of 92 undelivered ballots in a Seattle dumpster has renewed attention on election security in King County, where officials say layers of safeguards are designed to prevent stolen or discarded ballots from being used fraudulently.
With 11 days remaining before the Nov. 3 general election, approximately 170,000 ballots had already been returned across King County as of midday Friday.
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Among those casting their votes early was Renton resident Jose Laraque, who dropped off his ballot at one of roughly 100 secure ballot drop boxes across the county.
“It’s unfortunate,” Laraque said of the discarded ballots, pointing to the history of efforts to prevent people from voting.
The discovery came earlier this week when a concerned resident reported finding two bins of mail, including 92 undelivered ballots, in a dumpster near Golden Gardens Park in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.
King County Elections sent workers to retrieve the mail and notified Seattle police and the U.S. Postal Service. Officials said the discarded ballots were invalidated, and replacements were issued to all affected voters.
Kendall Hodson, chief of staff for King County Elections, said the incident appears consistent with mail theft rather than an attempt to interfere with voting.
“This is generally mail theft is what actually going on and what we know from our law enforcement partners is that the target is almost never the actual ballots and that’s why we see them left behind in these cases,” Hodson said.
The county typically receives a handful of similar reports during major election cycles, according to Hodson.
While discovering ballots in the trash can be alarming, Hodson said the county’s security system is designed to prevent someone from using another person’s ballot.
Every returned ballot goes through multiple verification steps before it can be counted. Election workers first confirm the ballot belongs to a registered voter and check whether that voter has already submitted a ballot.
Workers then compare the signature on the return envelope with the voter’s signature on file. Only after those checks are completed can the envelope be opened for processing.
“So those ballots out in the world isn’t a security threat, it’s not an opportunity for voter fraud,” Hodson said.
The safeguards extend beyond the ballot verification process.
King County has installed new tamper-detection sensors on its ballot drop boxes for the first time this election. The technology alerts officials when someone may be attempting to access or tamper with a box.
The roughly 1,000-pound steel boxes are also bolted to concrete foundations and equipped with built-in fire suppression systems.
Hodson said voters who use a county ballot drop box can bypass the regular mail delivery process, with collected ballots transported directly to the elections facility in Renton.
“If you put it in a ballot drop box it’s going right into our hands,” Hodson said.
The county expects to bring on approximately 600 temporary election workers to help process ballots as Election Day approaches.
Officials also emphasize that members of the public can visit the Renton elections facility to observe ballot processing, including signature verification and ballot scanning. The county also provides livestreams of election operations online.
For Laraque, the discovery of discarded ballots reinforces the importance of participating in the election rather than becoming discouraged.
“When you see that if nothing else don’t get discouraged,” he said, encouraging others to cast their ballots.
Election officials say voters who have not received their ballots can call King County Elections at 206-296-8683 to request assistance. Replacement ballots are also available through the county’s online replacement ballot options.
Anyone who finds discarded ballots elsewhere is encouraged to photograph each envelope and email the images to elections@kingcounty.gov, along with the location where the ballots were found.
King County Elections said the information can help the agency reissue ballots to affected voters and provide the Postal Service with details for its investigation.