A former letter carrier faces a federal charge for throwing about 300 Utah County primary ballots into a dumpster in Eagle Mountain.

The indictment comes weeks before general-election ballots go out to voters in Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills and Lehi. Those ballots are expected to be mailed around Oct. 13.

A federal grand jury indicted Damon Matai Seei, 34, of Payson on one count of unlawful secretion, destruction and delay of mail. The indictment was unsealed Tuesday, Sept. 22, and U.S. Marshals arrested Seei that morning, the Deseret News reported. He made an initial court appearance in Salt Lake City later that day.

Prosecutors said Seei set aside the ballots at the start of his shift on June 3 and dumped them in a church parking lot dumpster. The ballots were headed to Eagle Mountain voters ahead of the June 23 primary.

"He did not deliver a single one," U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak said at a Tuesday, Sept. 22, press conference at Department of Justice (DOJ) headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Seei told investigators he had no political motive. He said he threw away the mail, which also included advertisements, because he wanted to lighten his workload so he could go home earlier, according to Lehi Free Press. Seei is no longer a postal worker.

Investigators never recovered the ballots because the alleged crime was not discovered until much later, Holyoak said. A court filing stated that some of the affected voters were unable to vote in the primary.

Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson received more than 300 reports from voters who never got their ballots, ABC4 reported in September. Holyoak said the clerk found voter participation was "quite low" in the area where complaints originated.

DOJ highlights case nationally

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter called the Seei case evidence that "voting fraud is real" at the Tuesday, Sept. 22, press conference. Holyoak, Utah's top federal prosecutor, traveled to Washington for the event and noted that 95% of Utah voters cast ballots by mail.

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Utah's top election official, praised investigators in a statement to KSL. She recommended voters sign up to track their ballots at trackmyballot.utah.gov.

The Lehi Free Press reported that Seei's federal public defender did not return a call seeking comment. No plea information is publicly available.

What Utah County voters should know

General-election ballots are expected to be mailed to active, registered Utah County voters around Oct. 13, three weeks before the Nov. 3 election, according to the Utah County Elections Division. The county administers elections for more than 371,000 registered voters.

The Nov. 3 ballot in Alpine, Highland, Cedar Hills and Lehi precincts includes races for U.S. House District 4, State Senate District 21 and multiple State House seats. County races include Commission Seats A and B, clerk, sheriff, attorney, auditor and judicial retentions.

Under a 2025 state law, mailed ballots must reach the clerk's office by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. A postmark alone is no longer enough, Axios Salt Lake City reported.

The last day to request a ballot by mail is Oct. 23. Early voting runs Oct. 26 through Oct. 30 and Nov. 2 at the Utah County Elections Office in Provo. The county also has 28 ballot drop boxes open around the clock through Election Day.