‘Nobody can throw a person in a dumpster’: Jake and Spike clash over ballots found at Golden Gardens

The discovery of 92 ballots in a dumpster at Seattle’s Golden Gardens Park divided KIRO hosts Jake Skorheim and Spike O’Neill. Jake saw it as another reason to vote in person, while Spike called it a case of mail theft rather than a threat to election security.

“Nobody can throw a person in a dumpster,” Jake said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

According to KIRO 7, King County Elections confirmed that two bins containing ballots were found in the dumpster this week. The agency recovered 92 ballots and has reissued them to the voters. Seattle police checked 26 trash bins in two parking lots and found no more ballots. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is investigating.

Spike calls it a mail theft story

Spike wasn’t surprised by the discovery.

“You know what? Not really, because I think this happens far more often than we’re aware,” Spike said. “It’s a mail theft story.”

He drew a firm line between stolen mail and election tampering.

“This is not a voting security story,” Spike said.

Jake responded with sarcasm.

“I was under the impression that this was the safest and most secure general election ever,” Jake said.

Spike took the line at face value.

“I think this story confirms that this is the safest and most secure election,” Spike said.

Jake and Spike debate what the dumped ballots mean

Spike pointed out that the ballots in the dumpster were undelivered and blank.

“These weren’t completed ballots,” he said.

Jake countered that voters could still lose out.

“The absence of a vote is not good,” he said.

Spike argued that anyone trying to commit fraud would have filled out the ballots instead of throwing them away, and that fake ballots would get caught anyway.

“So this is proof that the system I think works,” he said.

Jake agreed that faking the ballots would be difficult.

“I wouldn’t say fraudulently vote because you have to fake 92 signatures,” he said.

That matches how county officials describe the safeguards. According to KOMO News, King County Elections Chief of Staff Kendall Hodson noted that signature verification is how the county makes sure only registered voters cast ballots.

“One thing that’s important to know is that the security to ensure only a registered voter votes their ballot happens on the back end when we verify the voter’s signature and that they haven’t already returned a ballot,” Hodson said.

Jake still wondered what would have happened if no one had spotted the bins.

“Thank goodness they were found because if they weren’t found, what would have happened?” Jake said.

He doubted all 92 voters would have noticed their missing ballots and asked for replacements. Spike urged anyone who hasn’t received a ballot to contact King County Elections at 206-296-8683 or request a replacement online.

Jake makes the case for in-person voting

Jake also pointed to a recent misprint on Snohomish County ballots. He acknowledged the error would not affect whether the ballots count.

“Yeah, but again, pretty easy word to spell. They got it wrong,” Jake said.

Spike advised voters who are returning ballots this close to Election Day to use a drop box. He cited changes at the U.S. Postal Service that he warned could keep ballots from being postmarked in time.

To Jake, that advice raised a bigger question.

“Doesn’t this speak to the security failures of the mail-in ballot election?” Jake said.

Spike disagreed. When Jake argued that people can’t be thrown in a dumpster, Spike pushed back.

“Well, we could. I think we could,” Spike said.

“Some people would, but not 92 of them in one,” Jake said.

Spike admitted he shares some of Jake’s preferences but defended mail-in voting.

“I would love that we did in-person voting. I think there are benefits, and people will vote more often if it is as convenient as possible, and that is the onus behind mail-in voting,” Spike said.

Jake argued that the problems are piling up.

“These things do add up in my mind, and they do undercut the process for me. The misprints, the ballots that go into the dumpsters, the burning of the ballots inside ballot boxes, things like that,” Jake said.

In Jake’s view, those problems “can all be stopped by voting in person.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3