Stolen Unvoted Ballots Recovered and Reissued in Sacramento County
The ballots were taken from a mail facility
Sacramento County election officials said they have recovered a batch of unvoted mail ballots that were stolen earlier this month and have reissued replacements to affected voters to ensure election integrity. The ballots were found during a homeless encampment clean-up off Mayhew Road and Elder Creek Road,
According to the Sacramento County Department of Voter Registration and Elections, the ballots were taken from a mail facility before they could be delivered to voters. Officials said law enforcement quickly recovered the ballots, and there is no evidence that any were cast or altered.
“While this was an unfortunate incident, our ballot tracking systems worked as intended,” county elections spokesperson Janna Haynes said. “Every affected voter has been contacted and reissued a secure replacement ballot.”
The department emphasized that California’s multiple layers of election security—including ballot tracking, voter signature verification, and barcoded ballot envelopes—help prevent fraudulent voting. Each ballot can only be counted once.
There was no information on whether there would be an investigation by the United States Postal Service.
