A man brought hundreds of ballots to a state lawmaker after finding them near a dumpster, but election officials say they were never contacted.
RENTON, Wash. — A box containing hundreds of ballots is now under review after a man reported finding it near a dumpster in Renton.
The ballots were brought to State Representative Jim Walsh, who posted a video on social media describing what he said was an unexpected discovery.
Walsh told KING 5 the man came across the box while dumping trash.
“He kind of knocked it with his leg… it was heavy so he looked into it, it wasn’t sealed, opened it up and it’s like ballots,” Walsh said.
Walsh’s office later showed KING 5 the contents — about 360 ballots — along with other mail, including jury summons and voter registration materials. The ballots appear to span multiple election cycles, with some dating back to 2020.
“Mostly it’s back to 2022. The significant numbers start in 2022 and ramp up and a lot from 2024 and 2025,” he said.
Walsh said the man who found the ballots told him that he tried to report it to multiple agencies, including King County Elections and the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, but was given the runaround.
Both offices dispute that account.
King County Elections said it has no record of being contacted and noted the ballots have not been turned over for review. The office also confirmed it referred the claim and video to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and federal postal authorities.
King County Elections responds
In a statement to KING 5, the county’s elections office said:
“This box and the contents have not been turned over to our office to look into, so we have not been able to identify the voters themselves. That said, we’re not in an active election right now so there would be no immediate impact to voters. In the videos posted to social media, they appear to be undelivered, unopened outgoing ballots that didn’t reach their voter,” the office said.
King County Elections referred the incident to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for investigation and also reported it to the United States Postal Inspection Service.
“There are multiple checks and balances built into the election process to ensure the correct voter votes their own ballot. If a voter doesn’t receive their ballot, they can and should give us a call and we’ll issue them a new one right away,” the elections office said. “We encourage voters to give us a call by that Monday after ballots are mailed if they haven’t seen it in their mailbox yet. They can get a replacement ballot until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
When a ballot is returned, King County Elections compares the signature on the ballot to the signature on the voter’s registration record, which under state law, must match before the ballot can count. If a signature does not match, the elections office reaches out to the voter to let them know.
Voters can track their ballots online and receive alerts about their ballot.
The Secretary of State’s office said it is aware of the video and that the office is working with King County Elections “to ensure this is fully investigated.” The office also said it has not record of the found ballots being reported to them in any way.
“If a person finds undelivered mail that has been improperly disposed of, there are several steps they should take to ensure it is fully investigated. Posting a video on social media is not one of them,” said Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. “Washington elections are safe and secure. We check the signature on every ballot to determine that the ballot sent to a voter was signed and returned by that voter.”
Voters are encouraged to check VoteWA at the beginning of an election period to see if they will receive a ballot of the election. Voters can also sign up for ballot status text notifications at votewa.gov.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office says it is aware of the situation and is coordinating with law enforcement, but has not received a formal criminal case referral — a required step before any charging decision can be made.
Walsh said he has notified the U.S. Postal Service and expects to hear back next week.
It remains unclear how the ballots ended up near the dumpster or whether any voters were affected.
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