Story perspectives

Man Indicted After Dumping 300+ Utah Mail Ballots

By Drooid · Sep 23, 2026, 2:32 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Damon Matai Seei dumped more than 300 mail-in ballots into a church dumpster on June 3.
The discarded ballots left roughly 304 Utah voters without their primary voting material.
U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak and Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter called the act a serious federal crime.
A grand jury indicted Damon Matai Seei on September 16.
Damon Matai Seei pleaded not guilty in Salt Lake City.

History

Historical Context

After the 2000 Florida presidential recount—where the Florida Supreme Court ordered a statewide recount of undervotes and the U.S. Supreme Court stopped it on Dec 12, 2000, leaving Bush ahead by 537 votes—Palm Beach officials later logged more than 5,000 over-hanged chads. In June 2024, Utah prosecutor Melissa Holyoak charged Damon Matai Seei for discarding 304 mail-in ballots, highlighting persistent national worries about ballot security.

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Story summary

Damon Matai Seei dumped more than 300 mail-in ballots into a church dumpster on June 3.
The discarded ballots left roughly 304 Utah voters without their primary voting material.
U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak and Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter called the act a serious federal crime.
A grand jury indicted Damon Matai Seei on September 16.
Damon Matai Seei pleaded not guilty in Salt Lake City.

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