WA authorities investigating abandoned ballots found by dumpster

RENTON, Wash. - King County Elections and local law enforcement launched an investigation after a box of outgoing ballots was found by a dumpster in Renton.

The backstory:

State officials were notified of the abandoned ballots from a post by Washington State Republican Chairman Jim Walsh, who posted a video to social media about the discovery.

According to King County Elections, the original post claimed the box was full of outbound, unvoted ballots from previous elections.

What they're saying:

On Tuesday, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service took custody of the ballots and determined they were blank, outgoing ballots that were not picked up by voters after being delivered to a private mailbox.

Renton Police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are leading the investigation into the abandoned ballots. King County Elections is also coordinating with the FBI, as the box of ballots included out-of-state and federal election mail.

Washington's Secretary of State urges anyone who finds a ballot to return it to the sender or contact authorities.

If a voter in King County does not receive their intended ballot, they can request a replacement. The replacement ballot is uniquely tied to the individual who requested it, and only one ballot will ever be accepted per voter.

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