Hundreds of exposed ballots were discovered piled in an open hallway at a Skid Row homeless shelter, prompting a federal investigation.
The ballots were found at The Midnight Mission, a downtown Los Angeles facility at 601 South San Pedro Street that provides meals and mail services, where 1,160 voters are registered. A photo of the scene was authenticated and independently confirmed during a visit to the shelter on October 13.
Georgia Hawley, the organization’s chief communications officer, told The Post that election ballots are supposed to be kept under lock and key until they reach their intended recipients.
“Our standard procedure is to secure election ballots behind locked doors until they are distributed to their intended recipients,” Hawley said.
“I personally confirmed that ballots were being stored securely when I visited our mail center,” she added.
Hawley explained that limited mailroom space at the facility requires deliveries to be received, sorted and distributed throughout the day. The Midnight Mission handles large volumes of mail for homeless residents.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli confirmed an investigation when contacted but declined to discuss The Midnight Mission specifically.
Republican congressional candidate Scott Meyers, an attorney running in California’s 30th Congressional District, blasted the handling of election mail and pointed to both the postal system and organizations responsible for receiving and distributing ballots.
“We’re treating ballots like junk mail,” Meyers said.
Meyers also told The Post the problem extends far beyond homeless shelters, pointing to photographs of ballots left unattended in apartment building lobbies and putting the blame on the U.S. Postal Service for failing to keep ballots safe.
“These are pieces of gold. This is our democracy,” he said.
Nico Ruderman, a Venice Neighborhood Council member and former candidate for public office who has repeatedly visited the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s office to observe election procedures, called the discovery disappointing but unsurprising.
“Even if there is no fraud, there is a perception,” Ruderman told The Post.
“If people don’t trust their elections, they’re not going to vote,” he continued.
Ruderman is calling for a ballot initiative to overhaul California’s election laws, telling The Post that public confidence matters even when wrongdoing has not been established.
“We need massive election reform, even if there is nothing nefarious going on,” he said. “Election reform eliminates doubts.”
Local resident Susan Collins accused political activists of exploiting homeless voters through California’s ballot collection laws.
“For over a decade I’ve been saying, ballot harvesting has been abused, in particular by the DSA,” Collins alleged, referring to the Democratic Socialists of America.
California law allows voters to authorize another person to return their completed mail ballots, provided state election rules are followed.
Election law attorney Garrett Fahy previously told The Post that allowing homeless residents to register using shelters and other nontraditional addresses reflects California’s efforts to protect voting access.
“The system is not set up to prevent people from voting. It’s to ensure anyone who can register votes,” Fahy said.
The discovery at The Midnight Mission comes four months after an investigation exposed 7,600 voter registrations linked to homeless shelters and service providers across Los Angeles, including facilities that don’t offer a single bed. At St. Joseph Center in Venice, 185 registered voters were tied to a drop-in facility with no beds.
The June investigation identified thousands of voter registrations tied to homeless shelters and service providers across the city, including drop-in centers that offer services but no overnight accommodations.