A Millcreek neighborhood is at the center of a Salt Lake County investigation after residents discovered their mailboxes emptied out just days after ballots went out for the 2026 election. County officials say a handful of voters were affected, the missing ballots have already been canceled, and investigators are still working to determine the full scope of what happened.
The trouble surfaced the morning after ballots hit mailboxes across the county. Resident Noelle Poulson picked up her own mail around 5 p.m. on Oct. 14, the day after ballots were mailed, and found her ballot waiting for her, according to KUTV. But by around 7:30 the next morning, she saw at least eight mailboxes nearby standing open and empty.
Poulson was not alone. Three neighbors told the station they had left mail in their boxes overnight only to find them open and emptied the following morning, though they declined to be named publicly while sharing accounts similar to Poulson's. KUTV notes those mailboxes sit directly on the street rather than next to the homes they serve, a detail that may have made them an easier target. At least one neighbor told the outlet she had tracked her and her husband's ballots and confirmed they were delivered on Oct. 14, only for them to vanish along with the rest.
County Calls It a Crime of Opportunity
Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman said the incident appears unrelated to the U.S. Postal Service itself and instead looks like a crime of opportunity, per the KUTV report. Chapman said only a handful of people were affected, that the county has already canceled the missing ballots, and that officials are now contacting everyone in the area to pin down the full extent of what was taken.
Chapman also voiced concern that episodes like this one could discourage or block people who lack easy access to a polling place from being able to vote at all, the station reported. Poulson, for her part, said the timing felt highly coincidental and that she is not distrustful of mail-in voting generally, but she is concerned about attempts to tamper with ballots and wants residents to stay alert to protect fair elections.
Why a Stolen Ballot Is Hard to Use
County officials pushed back on the idea that a stolen ballot could easily be cast fraudulently. Chapman said using someone else's ballot to vote is physically impossible under the county's safeguards, which include signature verification on every returned ballot and a requirement that voters supply one of three identifiers — a Social Security number, state ID or driver's license — according to KUTV. If a ballot's signature does not match the one on file, the county flags it rather than counting it.
Those safeguards echo requirements laid out by the Salt Lake County Clerk, which notes that only the voter — not a power-of-attorney holder or anyone else — may sign a mail ballot's affidavit. The county also confirms the Postal Service does not forward mail-in ballots, meaning a voter who has moved without updating their registration will not automatically receive one at a new address.
What Affected Voters Should Do
Anyone who has not received a ballot is urged to contact their county clerk, and Salt Lake County will void the original ballot and issue a replacement once a voter reports it missing, per KUTV's reporting. The Salt Lake County Clerk's office separately advises that voters who have not received a ballot within seven days of the mailing date should call the election office directly. Completed mail ballots must also reach the clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
The scale of this year's mailing makes even a small number of missing ballots notable. Ballots are mailed to active, registered voters 21 days before an election under standard county practice, and KSL.com reports Salt Lake County sent out roughly 600,000 ballots this cycle, with about 90% of county voters who participate typically doing so by mail. Early in-person voting at some Utah locations also began Oct. 20, and the state's mail ballot deadline is set for 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.
Not the Only Mail Ballot Scare This Year
Missing-ballot reports are not unique to Millcreek this election cycle. In July, Utah County officials heard from 294 voters who said they never received their primary ballots, with most of those reports concentrated in just two precincts where about 1,100 ballots had been sent, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. That case prompted the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General to open its own investigation, and the Tribune notes that audits of Utah elections have repeatedly found mail voting to be secure and largely reliable despite isolated problems. A Utah postal worker has also been charged in a separate case involving mail ballots tossed in the trash, according to the Associated Press.
Mail ballot theft has made headlines outside Utah, too. A theft of mail, including vote-by-mail ballots, from a post office in Daly City, California, is under investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Mercury News reported, with San Mateo County election officials saying the number of affected ballots had not yet been determined. For now, Salt Lake County says its own investigation into the Millcreek mailboxes remains active as officials work to reach every voter who may have been affected.
