Jay Senese of Sierra Madre, California uncovered nearly a dozen ballots stuffed in a storm drain while doing yard work last Saturday.
This incident, first reported by ABC 7, adds fuel to ongoing debates surrounding election security and potential fraud.
While landscaping near his property, Senese noticed unusual debris in the storm drain adjacent to his house.
Upon closer inspection, he discovered the ballots, which were addressed to residents in nearby Arcadia, California.
“We’re trained here to keep stuff out of the storm drain. So I got down on my hands and knees and dug around a little bit and started pulling it out,” Senese told ABC 7.
“I pulled out a bunch of junk mail—Ralphs ads and Aldi—and these ballots were mixed in with the junk mail. Of course, they caught my attention because we’re seeing on TV about all the care being taken to prevent fraud and misuse of ballots. It seemed a strange place for ballots to be.”
Senese’s story has quickly become emblematic of what conservatives have long feared: the mishandling and potential tampering of mail-in ballots that could jeopardize free and fair elections. Despite the Democrats’ insistence that mail-in voting is secure, instances like this continue to pile up, undermining public trust.
Senese’s suspicion? Someone went through mailboxes in the area, took what they wanted, and dumped the unwanted items—including these official ballots—into the storm drain.
“I’m one of these people who’s gotten almost everything paperless now. I don’t get a lot of personal mail. The only thing I get these days that might be like that is a replacement credit card or something,” Senese said.
In response to the incident, the LA County Registrar’s website allows voters to request a replacement ballot if theirs has been lost or stolen, but you can only do so once.
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