Man Arrested in Massive Voter Fraud Plot

Federal prosecutors in Utah charged a former letter carrier with dumping mail that included hundreds of primary ballots. Damon Matai Seei, 34, of Payson, pleaded not guilty to one count of unlawful secretion, destruction, and delay of mail. The charge carries up to five years in prison.

A grand jury indictment says Seei was assigned on June 3 to deliver mail to at least 300 addresses in Eagle Mountain. That load included advertisements and ballots sent to registered voters for Utah’s June 23 primary.

Prosecutors allege he threw some of the mail into a dumpster in a church parking lot shortly after starting his route. Residents later told county officials they never received ballots. Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson found turnout in the area was unusually low and started asking questions.

U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak said a former postal worker is accused of “discarding more than 300 mail-in ballots ahead of Utah’s June 2026 primary.” Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter called the alleged destruction of election mail a serious federal matter.

Seei told investigators he had no political motive and did not mean to throw away ballots. Court papers quote him saying he wanted to “lighten his workload” after feeling overwhelmed by the volume on the route.

He claimed he meant to toss advertisements so he could finish the rest of the deliveries. Prosecutors say he had already separated the ballots at the start of the shift and that it is hard to believe he did not know ballots were in the discarded pile.

Authorities have not accused him of working for a campaign or trying to help or hurt a candidate. He no longer works for the Postal Service. His next court date is November 30.

Utah now mails ballots automatically to active registered voters. The state plans to switch to an opt-in system in 2029. The investigation into the dumped mail is still open.

The case is being handled as an election-integrity prosecution even though the government has not alleged a partisan scheme.