Justice Department charges Utah postal worker for dumping mail ballots in trash during state primary

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A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in Utah threw out more than 300 mail ballots that were being sent to voters for the state's June primary, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said during a news conference that 34-year-old Damon Matai Seei was arrested Tuesday and appeared in federal court in Salt Lake City to be arraigned.

Seei entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday. A message seeking comment was sent to his attorney.

Seei was delivering mail in Eagle Mountain, Utah, when he threw the ballots and other mail into a dumpster in a church parking lot not long after his shift started, McCotter said.

It’s not clear what the motive was, but Melissa Holyoak, the U.S. attorney for Utah, said Seei indicated to authorities that there was no political agenda. The investigation remains ongoing, officials said.

Most voters in Utah cast ballots by mail. Nationwide, nearly a third of voters 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.