Auditor: 125 ballots missed in 2016 election

Port Angeles – A county auditor northwest of Seattle said her office has discovered 125 ballots from the 2016 presidential election that were not opened.

The Peninsula Daily News reported Thursday the ballots were discovered inside a walk-up election ballot drop box at a courthouse in Port Angeles.

Clallam County Auditor Shoona Riggs said officials found them Jan. 25 while inspecting the drop boxes.

She said in a Monday letter to those voters that the right to vote is sacrosanct and that the voters “deserved better.”

Riggs said the votes wouldn’t have changed election outcomes because the closest race, for governor, was decided by over 750 votes.

The voters’ records will reflect that they participated in the election, but the ballots won’t be opened.

Riggs said the county is reviewing its policies and that she’s invited the secretary of state’s office to do a review.