New details show ballots may have been set out in February.
RENTON, Wash. — A box of ballots found next to a dumpster in Renton is now drawing federal attention, as investigators work to determine how they ended up there and whether any laws were broken.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service confirmed to KING 5 it is aware of the situation and investigating. The agency did not provide additional details about the scope or timeline of that investigation.
At the same time, the Washington State Republican Party says it is conducting its own review of the ballots, which party chair Jim Walsh said were turned over by a Good Samaritan earlier this year.
According to Walsh, most of the ballots appear to be connected to a private mailbox rental business, where individuals and small businesses can lease mailing addresses.
The current owner of that business told KING 5 they took over in January and were unaware of any ballots being left behind, calling the situation “news to them.”
Walsh said the ballots were actually discovered in February, not last week, by a man who he says tried contacting multiple agencies before coming forward publicly.
“He tried to contact King County elections… and got the runaround… and he said he tried contacting the state secretary of state,” Walsh said.
However, the Washington Secretary of State said in a statement last week it had no record of receiving a report about the ballots prior to Walsh posting a video online.
Video shared by Walsh shows ballots sitting on his table. He said it came from a box labeled “ballots + jury duty.”
While the image has fueled online speculation, Walsh himself said the ballots are not evidence of election fraud.
“On balance… this is not evidence of fraud,” he said in an interview with KING 5.
Instead, he argues the situation highlights vulnerabilities in how ballots are delivered.
“That is a risk… a bad actor could get involved, could intercept [them] and do something illegal with them,” Walsh said.
Washington conducts elections almost entirely by mail, with ballots sent from county election offices to voters through the postal system. Election officials have previously emphasized that safeguards are in place, including signature verification and the ability for voters to request replacement ballots if theirs never arrives.
Walsh says the voters who never received their ballots could have very well requested new ballots when they found out they were missing theirs, and voted that way, which is legal and encouraged. However, Walsh says his office is working to identify if any of the voters never got their ballots but had been recorded as ‘having voted.’
“We’ll look and see if they managed to vote in the elections,” Walsh said.
Walsh said some of the ballots appeared partially open when they were found, but denied that anyone intentionally unsealed them.
“We didn’t unseal anything that was sealed,” he said, adding some envelopes were already torn or had come open. “The seal had come undone, they had been torn a bit, and we looked at those to make sure these are in fact ballots. Weren’t empty envelopes.”
Walsh said no agency has yet taken physical custody of the ballots, though federal investigators have expressed interest in examining them.
He said the expectation is that the ballots will eventually be returned to local election offices, primarily King County Elections, where most of them originated.
The Secretary of State’s office said it is working with King County Elections on the situation, but had no new updates Monday.
For now, key questions remain unanswered: how the ballots ended up near the dumpster, how long they were there, and whether gaps in the system allowed them to go undelivered.
King County Elections Office said there are multiple checks and balances in the elections process to ensure accuracy and security. Voters who don’t receive their ballot as expected are encouraged to call King County Elections to get a replacement ballot, or can access their ballot online, print, and return it.
After the ballot is returned, the signature on the return envelope is checked against the signature on the voter’s registration record. Under state law, a ballot can only be opened and counted with that matching signature.
When a signature doesn’t match, the voter is contacted by mail, phone, and email to let them know that there is an issue that requires action to fix. The voter must respond for the ballot to be counted.
Voters are strongly encouraged to track their ballot and sign up for ballot alerts, text and email alerts about where their ballot is in the process. Subscribed voters receive an alert when their ballot is mailed so they know to keep an eye on their mailbox, as well as when their ballot is received back at Elections HQ, and when it’s been verified and is ready to be counted. Ballot alerts are the best way to know that a ballot is headed your way.
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