RENTON, Wash. — Federal authorities have taken custody of a batch of election mail found near a Renton dumpster as officials investigate how what are alleged to be hundreds of ballots from past elections were left unclaimed.
The discovery surfaced last week after Washington State Republican Party Chairman and state Rep. Jim Walsh posted a video on social media showing a box of outbound, unvoted ballots he said had been found near a strip mall dumpster.
RELATED | Fraud concerns as 500 blank ballots from recent elections found near Renton dumpster
Walsh said a man from Renton found a box of roughly 500 ballots spanning multiple election cycles – many from 2022 through 2025 – behind the strip mall in February.
Walsh first posted a video regarding the ballots on April 16.
King County Elections said it is now working with local and federal partners, including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Renton Police Department, and the FBI, because the mail includes federal and out-of-state election materials.
Initial findings indicate the ballots were sent to voters but never retrieved.
“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, who said he received the ballots from the person who found them, raised concerns about potential weaknesses in Washington’s vote-by-mail system, calling the situation a “broken chain of custody” and an “invitation to fraud,” though he stopped short of alleging wrongdoing.
Walsh said someone could potentially use information on ballot envelopes to request replacement ballots, though doing so would be illegal.
Election officials pushed back on those claims, emphasizing that the ballots had not been returned or counted and that safeguards are in place to prevent misuse.
King County Director of Elections Julie Wise criticized Walsh for publicizing the ballots instead of immediately turning them over to authorities.
“This is clearly an effort to push a false narrative about elections and vote-by-mail,” Wise said. “There was no opportunity for fraud here, and holding onto other people’s ballots to make a public spectacle is unethical.”
Wise’s statement reads in full:
“Representative Walsh claims to care about the security of our elections and the health of our democracy. If that were the case, the responsible thing to do would have been to immediately turn over any undelivered mail to the authorities. This is clearly an effort to push a false narrative about elections and vote-by-mail. There was no opportunity for fraud here, and holding onto other people’s ballots to make a public spectacle is unethical. I am grateful for the quick work of our law enforcement partners to take custody of these ballots, and for all they do to protect elections and election workers.”
The Secretary of State’s Office said it has been involved in the response and urged the public to follow proper procedures when encountering election materials.
“If someone comes across an undelivered ballot, they should return it to the sender,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said. “They should be turned over to law enforcement when requested, not opened or posted on social media.”
Officials said King County Elections and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will assist investigators as they determine how the ballots ended up at the location.
While the discovery has fueled debate over election security, state and county officials said Washington’s vote-by-mail system includes multiple safeguards. Ballots are tied to individual voters, and only one ballot per voter can be counted. Signatures on returned ballots must match voter registration records, and voters are contacted if there are discrepancies.
King County Elections sends more than 1.4 million ballots each election cycle, and voters who do not receive a ballot can request a replacement. Even if multiple ballots are issued, only one can be accepted and counted.
The investigation remains ongoing.
