A ballot drop box is seen at the King County Elections headquarters on Oct. 23, 2026, in Renton, Washington. (David Ryder / Getty Images)
By Samuel Short October 26, 2026 at 5:07am
We’ve got another “safe and secure” election taking place in Seattle, Washington, as two mail bins containing 92 mail-in ballots were found in a dumpster at Golden Gardens Park in King County.
The Seattle Times reported that those voters were issued new ballots and officials filed a report with the U.S. Postal Service.
KOMO-TV posted footage from the scene, reporting the ballots were unopened.
Dozens of undelivered ballots for the upcoming midterm election were found among mail discarded in a Seattle park dumpster.
According to King County Elections (KCE) Chief of Staff Kendall Hodson, a voter called the KCE customer service line to report the incident.
Staff were sent to Golden Gardens Park, where they found two bins of mail in a dumpster.
Full story here: https://t.co/8XfvmxbpQv
#komo #komo4 #komonews #seattle
— KOMO News (@komonews) October 23, 2026
The outlet noted that Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson has offered election auditors National Guard members to monitor drop-off locations.
KIRO quoted the governor from a letter he sent to that end.
“These National Guard personnel would inconspicuously monitor ballot drop boxes or other high-traffic areas where voting occurs to ensure that Washington voters can safely exercise their right to vote and that their ballots are secure,” he said.
“Election Neighborhood Watch personnel would not be in uniform and would not interact with voters dropping off their ballots,” the letter continued.
“They would serve as eyes and ears on the ground and would be available to immediately coordinate with local authorities in the event of any issues.”
The Seattle Times reported that King County Elections Chief of Staff Kendall Hodson said the office sees incidents like this occasionally, but added that measures like signature verification and other steps decrease the chance an individual could illegitimately vote.
Hodson said that “even if someone with nefarious intent found these ballots and tried to vote [with] them, they would be rejected once they got to our team.”
Do you think mail-in voting increases the risk of election fraud?
Here’s an idea: get rid of mail-in ballots, make everyone vote at a polling place on Election Day, and make Election Day a holiday to ensure turnout.
Right now, this process is open to fraud.
Who is sending in mail-in ballots? Who is handling these ballots?
The Democratic Party has made something that should be simple unnecessarily convoluted. It’s done to “count every vote,” “get the vote out,” and “safeguard our democracy.”
In reality, it’s just fraud.
This mail-in ballot process allows efforts to compromise the election, keeping states like Washington deep blue.
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Sam Short is an Assistant Professor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not reflect the views or opinions of Motlow State Community College.
