Over 100 absentee ballots were found among undelivered mail in Kentucky, officials confirmed.
A tipster alerted the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) on Thursday. Special agents responded in Louisville and recovered several different classes of mail, including 112 absentee ballots and two political advertisements, special agent Scott Balfour told The Epoch Times via email.
The ballots were not filled in because the mail had not been delivered, Balfour said.
The mail was intended for delivery in Jeffersontown.
USPS OIG officials already identified the employee responsible for discarding the mail. The person is no longer employed by the USPS, according to Balfour.
“The person is no longer employed with the USPS. When the investigation is concluded, the case will be presented for federal prosecution to the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” he said.
The employee’s name has not been released publicly.
The ballots and flyers were returned to the postal service and delivered to customers on Thursday.
Nore Ghibaudy, director of public relations at the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office, told The Epoch Times that none of the ballots were damaged and all had been delivered.
The mail was dated Oct. 3, he said.
The county sent out approximately 175,000 ballots for the upcoming election. If people do not receive a ballot, then they can go to county voting centers starting on Oct. 28, through the election, and sign an affidavit stating they did not receive a ballot.
Then, they can vote in the centers.
People can check on their voting status on the Kentucky State Board of Elections website.
Kentucky law requires mail-in voters to send in ballots by Nov. 3. The ballots must be received by Nov. 6.
There are drop boxes available for people to drop off ballots if they’re worried about the USPS not handling them properly.
Most USPS employees “are hard-working, trustworthy individuals who work around the clock to deliver the nation’s mail, and incidents of this nature are exceedingly rare when put into that context,” Balfour said.
People who witness crimes committed by postal employees can contact the USPS OIG at 888-USPS-OIG or www.uspsoig.gov.
