Federal authorities have taken custody of hundreds of unclaimed election ballots discovered near a Renton dumpster as officials investigate how the mail was left behind.
The ballots were found near a strip mall earlier this year, according to King County Elections. The discovery gained attention after Washington State Republican Party Chairman and state Rep. Jim Walsh posted a video showing a box of outbound ballots he said had been recovered from the area.
Walsh said a Renton man found roughly 500 ballots behind the location in February, spanning multiple election cycles from 2022 through 2025. The ballots appeared to be unvoted and had not been returned.
King County Elections said it is now working with local and federal partners, including the US Postal Inspection Service, the Renton Police Department, and the FBI, because the materials include federal and out-of-state election mail.
“Upon initial review, the ballots appear to all be outgoing ballots that were not picked up by the voter after being delivered to a private mailbox location,” the agency said.
Walsh raised concerns about the handling of the ballots, describing the situation as a “broken chain of custody” and warning it could create an “invitation to fraud.” He said information on ballot envelopes could potentially be used to request replacement ballots, though he did not allege that any fraud occurred.
Election officials pushed back on those claims, emphasizing that the ballots were never returned or counted and that safeguards are in place.
“This is clearly an effort to push a false narrative about elections and vote-by-mail,” King County Director of Elections Julie Wise said. “There was no opportunity for fraud here, and holding onto other people’s ballots to make a public spectacle is unethical.”
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said people who come across election mail should return it to the sender or turn it over to authorities.
“If someone comes across an undelivered ballot, they should return it to the sender,” Hobbs said. “They should be turned over to law enforcement when requested, not opened or posted on social media.”
Investigators are working to determine how the ballots ended up at the location. King County Elections and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office are assisting in the review.
State and county officials said Washington’s vote-by-mail system includes multiple safeguards. Each ballot is tied to a specific voter, and only one ballot per voter can be counted. Returned ballots require signature verification, and voters are contacted if there are discrepancies.
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