More than 100 absentee ballots bound for Jeffersontown found thrown out

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A person found a pile of discarded USPS mail, including 112 absentee ballots for the upcoming election, on Thursday.

A statement from a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General said the ballots, as well as two political advertisements, were already “returned to the USPS and will be delivered to customers today.”

The statement said the discarded mail was intended for delivery in the Jeffersontown area, the 40299 zip code in particular.

Below is an excerpt from the statement from Special Agent Scott Balfour:

“On Thursday morning, October 15, Special Agents with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) in Louisville, KY responded to a report of undelivered mail being found by a local citizen. USPS OIG Special Agents recovered several different classes of mail, including 112 absentee ballots and two political advertisements. The mail was intended for delivery in the 40299 zip code area of Jeffersontown, KY. The ballots and political flyers have already been returned to the USPS and will be delivered to customers today. USPS OIG Special Agents are working to identify who is responsible for discarding the mail. When the investigation is concluded, the case will be presented for federal prosecution to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

“Doesn’t seem like it was targeting because they weren’t filled out, so hopefully that can calm people’s nerves a little bit,” neighbor Christine Haunsz told WAVE 3 News.

Haunsz was shocked to hear what happened, especially with allegations of voter fraud this election cycle in the middle of a pandemic.

“With things the way they are right now, it’s super important for everyone to get their ballots,” Haunsz said. “The good thing it seems that they were blank, so they can still go to them and if people don’t get their blank ballots, they can still go vote in person. Hopefully, no harm, no foul.”

It’s still unclear if they were dumped by a USPS employee or someone else who got their hands on the bins.

The Jefferson County Clerk’s office says if there are any issues with the 112 blank absentee ballots found this morning, they will fix it. In the meantime, it’s crunch time for election workers; as of 6 a.m. Thursday, there were just under 7,000 still waiting to be processed.

So far, over 167,000 blank absentee ballots have been mailed out. Anyone who hasn’t received a requested ballot before Oct. 28 can still vote in person.

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