Utah Postal Carrier Charged With Discarding Over 300 Primary Ballots

A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in Utah has been accused of discarding more than 300 mail ballots that were being sent to voters ahead of the state's June primary, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Damon Matai Seei, 34, was arrested Tuesday and appeared in federal court in Salt Lake City for arraignment, Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter told reporters at a news conference. It was not immediately clear whether Seei had legal representation.

According to McCotter, Seei was delivering mail in Eagle Mountain, Utah, when he threw the ballots and other mail into a dumpster in a church parking lot shortly after his shift began.

Officials said the motive remains unclear, but Melissa Holyoak, the U.S. attorney for Utah, said Seei indicated to authorities that he had no political agenda. The investigation is ongoing.

Mail voting is the dominant method of casting a ballot in Utah, and nearly one-third of voters nationwide use mail-in ballots. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump's attempts to impose new Postal Service rules that would have restricted mail voting for the midterm elections.