Utah postal worker accused of throwing away 300 mail-in ballots in church parking lot

SALT LAKE CITY — A former postal worker allegedly threw away some 300 mail-in ballots meant to be delivered to registered voters in Utah County during the June primary election, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

Damon Matai Seei, 34, of Payson, was charged with one count of unlawful secretion, destruction and delay of mail, according to the indictment, which was filed last week and unsealed Tuesday.

"As alleged in the indictment, the defendant, then a letter carrier for the (U.S.) Postal Service in Utah, destroyed over 300 mail-in ballots that were meant to be delivered to residents for the June 23 primary," acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said at a news conference. "The defendant allegedly threw those ballots into a dumpster in a church parking lot, even though he knew that they were ballots, and they were clearly marked as ballots."

Seei was delivering mail in Eagle Mountain, a press release from the Department of Justice stated. The alleged crime occurred on or around June 3, according to the indictment.

Seei was arrested Tuesday morning by U.S. Marshals before making an initial appearance in court in Salt Lake City later that day, according to Melissa Holyoak, U.S. attorney for the District of Utah.

She said several voters complained about never receiving their mail-in ballots.

"Using county databases, the clerk determined that the rate of voter participation was remarkably low in the area where residents had complained that they had not received their mail-in ballots," she said. "In Utah, over 95% of voters rely on mail-in ballots to exercise their right to vote. ... But when defendant allegedly tossed the mail-in ballots into a parking lot dumpster, those citizens' right to vote were also thrown away."

The indictment contained few details beyond listing the charge. Justice Department officials said Seei set the ballots aside at the beginning of his shift delivering mail.

"He did not deliver a single one," Holyoak said, adding that Seei "indicated that he had discarded other mail as well."

She said investigators did not recover the ballots because the alleged crime was not discovered until much later.

Officials are still looking into whether the registered voters were able to vote by other means.

"We will be working on reaching out to victims to understand that," Holyoak said, "but we do know from the county clerk that the voter participation in that area was quite low."

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Utah's top election official, praised the work of investigators.

"Holyoak correctly asserted that those Utahns' right to vote was thrown away when their ballots were tossed in the trash," she told KSL in a statement. "I'm grateful that the department takes cases of denying lawful voting just as seriously as alleged illegal voting."

She recommended Utahns sign up to track their ballots at trackmyballot.utah.gov.

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