Federal investigators are now examining hundreds of unopened Washington state ballots discovered near a dumpster in Renton, after what Washington State Republican Party Chairman Jim Walsh describes as a breakdown in how ballots are tracked and handled.
“The ballots right now are in the possession of the U.S. Postal Service inspectors branch… and they’re investigating how this happened,” Walsh said in an interview on The Ari Hoffman Show.
According to Walsh, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service is leading the probe, with coordination involving other agencies.
“I have spoken directly with the U.S. Postal Inspectors Service… I have not spoken with the FBI directly, although the postal inspectors and the FBI are talking to each other,” he said, adding that he was copied on communications between the agencies.
Walsh also said local law enforcement is involved.
“They’re also working, I understand, with the Renton Police Department… and the local police were looking at the area approximately where these were found,” he said.
Despite the multi-agency response, Walsh suggested the outcome of the investigation remains uncertain.
“Postal inspectors said they’re not sure… they could even establish that anything illegal happened,” he said, attributing that difficulty to what he repeatedly described as a “broken chain of custody.”
The investigation stems from the discovery of a box of ballots on the ground next to a dumpster behind a strip mall in Renton.
“Earlier today, a concerned citizen contacted me and came and dropped off… a large box of ballots, Washington State ballots, specifically King County elections ballots, that were mailed to people and never received,” Walsh said in a video posted to Facebook.
“The concerned individual… found these ballots in a box on the ground next to a dumpster behind a strip mall in Renton,” he added.
In his radio interview, Walsh described how the discovery happened.
“There was this box, this clean box sitting next to the dumpster… he kind of nicked it with his leg… and was like, wow, that’s heavy,” Walsh said. “He looked in it and he recognized it as ballots.”
Walsh said the box contained hundreds of ballots from multiple election cycles.
“He looked in the box, saw it was ballots—hundreds of ballots, many from the 2024 general election, but others from 2025, 2023, 2022,” he said.
In the radio interview, he estimated the total at “a little bit under 400 ballots that had never been, apparently never been delivered to the voter.”
The ballots were largely addressed to individuals using private mailbox services.
“The common theme among the ballots… was that they were ballots sent to people at a private mailbox establishment,” Walsh said.
He argued the situation highlights systemic issues.
“What this is proof of is the lack of security of tracking where ballots are at each stage in their travels,” Walsh said.
“We need to do a better job of tracking where ballots are sent, whether they’re received, and how they’re sent back to be counted,” he added.
Walsh also suggested the ballots may have accumulated before being discarded.
“They were from multiple years… and then put in a box and thrown away like trash. Ballots are not trash,” he said.
Officials push back on claims
King County Elections confirmed that federal authorities are now in possession of the ballots and investigating.
“Earlier today the United States Postal Inspection Service took custody of the ballots and is collaborating with the Renton Police Department on the investigation,” the agency said, adding that the FBI is also involved due to the nature of the 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 office stated.
King County Director of Elections Julie Wise criticized Walsh’s handling of the situation.
“If that were the case, the responsible thing to do would have been to immediately turn over any undelivered mail to the authorities,” Wise said. “This is clearly an effort to push a false narrative about elections and vote-by-mail.”
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said, “If someone comes across an undelivered ballot, they should return it to the sender,” adding that ballots should not be opened or shared publicly.
Officials maintain that Washington’s election system includes safeguards such as signature verification and ballot tracking, and that voters can request replacement ballots if theirs never arrives.
The investigation into how the ballots ended up near the Renton dumpster, and whether any laws were broken, remains ongoing.
