LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The U.S. Postal Service confirms more than 100 absentee ballots were thrown in a dumpster in Jeffersontown and the mail carrier responsible has been fired. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hundreds of blank absentee ballots found in the garbage

  • U.S. Postal worker responsible has been fired

  • None of the ballots were damaged; each hand-delivered to proper recipient

  • The case has been turned over for federal prosecution

According to a special agent with USPS, a private citizen discovered discarded mail in a contractor’s dumpster on Thursday in Jeffersontown. The trashed mail included 112 blank absentee ballots intended for residents living in the 40299 zip code. Special Agent Scott Balfour told Spectrum News 1 the recovered ballots were not damaged and hand-delivered to their intended addresses later in the day. 

A statement from the USPS says in part, "USPS OIG Special Agents identified the employee responsible for discarding the mail. The person is no longer employed with the USPS.” 

Agent Balfour also said, "I will point out that the vast majority of the postal service's 630,000 employees are hard-working, trustworthy individuals who work around the clock to deliver the nation's mail, and incidents of this nature are exceedingly rare when put into that context." 

Early in-person and absentee voting has been a major talking point during this election. The Jefferson County Clerk's office says if anyone doesn’t receive their requested absentee ballot for any reason they can still vote in-person on election day. 

“If you say 'I didn’t get it,' they will send you where you need to go, you’ll fill out an affidavit and they will hand you another ballot and what they will do at that time is the ballot that was scanned originally to you, they will cancel that ballot," Nore Ghibauldy with the Jefferson County Clerk's office said.

The identity of the mail carrier has not been released. The case turned over for federal prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.