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More than 300 Utah voters were supposed to receive mail-in ballots for the June primary.
Federal prosecutors say the postal worker trusted to deliver them did something else: He separated the ballots from the rest of his route, delivered none of them and dumped the mail in a church parking-lot dumpster.
Now that former carrier, 34-year-old Damon Matai Seei of Payson, has been indicted on federal charges involving the unlawful destruction, delay and concealment of mail.
The case is a blunt reminder that election integrity can hinge on something as ordinary—and as vulnerable—as one person doing his job.
Acting Deputy Attorney General @PADAGMcCotter announces the unsealing of an indictment charging a former USPS Postal Worker for allegedly disposing of HUNDREDS of Mail-In Ballots in Utah
pic.twitter.com/QOL0zBHEHE
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) September 22, 2026
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that a federal grand jury indicted Seei on September 16. He was arrested and arraigned in Salt Lake City after the indictment was unsealed.
Seei faces federal counts alleging the unlawful secretion, destruction and delay of mail, with the charges centered on the Eagle Mountain route he worked on June 3. His next court appearance is scheduled for November 30.
According to prosecutors, Seei was assigned to deliver advertisements, ordinary mail and election materials to at least 300 residents of Eagle Mountain. Mixed into that route were hundreds of clearly marked ballots sent so those residents could vote in Utah’s June 23 primary.
The ballots never made it to a single voter, the government alleges.
Justice Department officials stressed that the case concerns more than missing envelopes. Every undelivered ballot represented a voter who was denied the ordinary opportunity to receive, complete and return it through the process Utah established.
Investigators say the discarded mail was recovered from a dumpster in a church parking lot. The case is being investigated jointly by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd C. Bouton is prosecuting the case.
The Justice Department says its investigation is continuing and that federal officials plan to contact the voters whose ballots were affected.
A federal detention memorandum lays out the government’s timeline. Postal records allegedly showed Seei clocking in at 9:13 a.m., beginning his route at 10:34 a.m. and driving to the church dumpster around 11:57 a.m., where he remained for roughly three minutes.
Utah County election officials later calculated that approximately 304 registered voters in the affected area never received their ballots.
Prosecutors say Seei admitted throwing away mail and claimed he had no political agenda. He reportedly described himself as overwhelmed and blamed frustration and laziness.
But the same filing says he acknowledged setting the ballots aside at the beginning of his route. Investigators found no record that any of them were delivered.
The government’s evidence photographs show one of the ballot envelopes and the dumpster where the discarded mail was allegedly found.
The criminal case is built around a specific route, a specific batch of ballots and a specific disposal site.
What remains unclear is how many affected residents obtained replacement ballots or ultimately voted.
The alleged conduct went far beyond delayed campaign flyers or utility bills. It interfered with hundreds of citizens’ opportunity to participate in an election.
Fox News reported that local voters complained after their ballots failed to arrive and that election participation in the affected area appeared unusually low. Federal officials say the investigation remains active and that authorities intend to contact the voters whose mail was involved.
The ballots were clearly marked as election mail, according to the report. Prosecutors allege Seei separated them at the start of his shift, delivered none and dumped them within roughly 90 minutes of beginning the route.
Officials have not yet publicly accounted for how many of those residents received replacements or cast ballots by another method. That missing answer will help show the full electoral impact of the alleged disposal.
The case also demolishes a lazy talking point that concern about election safeguards is somehow dangerous or illegitimate.
Mail voting depends on a chain of custody. Every link in that chain must be accountable, documented and capable of being audited when something goes wrong.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter put the principle plainly: Ballot integrity is not a partisan issue. He is right.
No political motive has been established here, and an indictment is an allegation—not a conviction. Seei is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Those legal protections must be honored. So must the voting rights of the people whose ballots were allegedly treated like garbage.
A secure election system cannot promise that no employee will ever abuse his position. It can—and must—detect failures, preserve evidence, prosecute wrongdoing and make certain that every affected voter is heard.
Americans should not have to choose between convenient voting and trustworthy elections. They have every right to demand both.
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[ H/T WLT Report ]
