Approximately 500 ballots, dating from 2022 through 2025 and primarily for King County voters, were discovered in a box near a dumpster in Renton. The Washington State Republican Party has called for an investigation into the broken chain of custody, raising concerns about the state's mail-in voting system. Election officials have confirmed an investigation is underway.
About 500 ballots were turned over to the state Republican Party after a concerned citizen found them behind a strip mall in Renton . Elections officials say an investigation is now underway. A box containing roughly 500 ballots from recent elections was discovered near a dumpster behind a Renton strip mall, raising concerns among state lawmakers and others about potential vulnerabilities in the state’s mail-in voting system.
Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen and chair of the Washington State Republican Party, said the ballots appeared to have been mailed to voters but were never delivered or returned. While most were destined for King County voters, there are other ballots for people in Snohomish and Pierce counties. A man in Renton found the ballots in February, and they were stacked inside a box on the ground behind a strip mall, according to Walsh. A box of about 500 ballots that Washington GOP Chair Jim Walsh claims were turned over after being found behind a Renton strip mall. Election officials said an investigation is underway. The ballots, spanning election cycles from 2022 through 2025, were largely unopened and included many from the 2024 general election. Walsh said he opened a small number of envelopes to confirm they contained ballots, which he described as blank. He said the discovery highlights what he described as potentially serious flaws in the state’s vote-by-mail system. “We can't be sure, really, of the path that any of these ballots took, and this gets to the real issue that this box of ballots illustrates,” Walsh said. “The broken chain of custody is the problem. We can't measure the path that these took. We don't know exactly what happened." Ballots are mailed based on voter registration lists, which Walsh said can create gaps in accountability as they move through the mail system. The handling of ballots outside official channels could present risks, Walsh said, though he stopped short of alleging wrongdoing. “Opening for fraud is the right way to put it,” Walsh said. “This is not a smoking gun that fraud occurred, but in this kind of situation, it’s an invitation to fraud.” Walsh said someone could potentially use information on ballot envelopes to request replacement ballots, though doing so would be illegal. The man who found the ballots said he contacted King County Elections, the Washington Secretary of State’s Office, and a congressional office, but received little or no response before ultimately turning the ballots over to Walsh on Thursday. A spokesperson for King County Elections said they had no record of being contacted about the issue and would have asked for the ballots to be returned for investigation. The office said it has since referred the matter to law enforcement, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. State election officials emphasized that safeguards are in place to prevent fraudulent voting. Ballots are verified through signature matching, and voters who do not receive a ballot can request a replacement. “If and when they return that ballot, we compare the signature on the return envelope with the signature on the voter’s registration record,” King County Elections said in a statement, adding that voters are contacted if there is a mismatch. A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office said officials are working with King County to investigate and noted they also have no record of the situation being reported through official channels. “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,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a statement. “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.” Election officials note that multiple safeguards, including signature verification and voter outreach, are designed to prevent such activity. Walsh said his team plans to go through the envelopes to review voter information and attempt to determine what happened to the ballots. “We’re going to scan those and do some kind of forensic check on what happened to that person,” he said. In some cases, Walsh said preliminary checks suggest voters associated with the ballots may have successfully cast votes, possibly using replacement ballots.Walsh said the situation underscores the need for stronger controls. “We need to have someone responsible for a ballot at every stage of its delivery,” he said, “and right now we don’t.” State officials, however, maintain that Washington’s vote-by-mail system remains secure, citing verification processes and the rarity of confirmed fraud cases.Women's sports icons Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe announce separation in joint statement Sports legend Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe announced their separation in a joint Instagram post on Friday.The FBI reportedly received and is analyzing potentially critical DNA evidence in the investigation into the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.A man in distress shut down a stretch of freeway in Marysville Friday afternoon before running into a gas station, where Washington State Patrol troopers took hAuthorities identified three members of the Martin family missing since 1958 after DNA testing of remains found in their car in the Columbia River.
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