A postal worker in Utah was indicted by the Justice Department on Tuesday, after admitting he was attempting to “lighten his workload” by dumping around 300 mail-in ballots in a church parking lot dumpster before the state’s June 23 primary.
The USPS employee, 34-year-old Damon Matai Seei, of Payson, Utah, told investigators that he did not have a political agenda when committing the unlawful act, but claims he simply made a ‘poor decision’ out of ‘frustration’ and ‘laziness.’
The USPS said in a statement that it works “tirelessly to ensure public trust in the mail and monitors to prevent any issues that may arise,” and that it closely monitors political and election mail. When the agency was notified of a mail dumping, the matter was referred to the inspector general.
DOJ officials used the opportunity to tout the charges as part of their focus on “election integrity,” as Trump claims without evidence that noncitizens voting en masse should be prevented by the USPS regulations on mail-in ballots. The Supreme Court refused Trump’s demands last week.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said an executive order issued by Trump restricting mail voting would have prevented the Utah crime.