A U.S. Postal Service employee is under investigation after a postal worker allegedly dumped about 300 direct mail pieces in support of Republican Rep. Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) into a dumpster at a Pennsylvania supermarket.
The New Jersey Globe has confirmed that a woman wearing a USPS uniform was observed pulling up next to a dumpster at a Shop-Rite in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, taking several postal bins out of the trunk of her car, and throwing them into a dumpster before driving off.
The incident was captured on the supermarket’s surveillance camera. The recording was turned over to USPS investigators and obtained by the New Jersey Globe.
The pro-Kean mailers, sent by an independent expenditure committee connected to the national GOP, were meant for voters in Succasunna, part of Roxbury Township in Morris County and one of the most heavily Republican municipalities in New Jersey’s 7th district.
“We saw her dump it,” a security company official working for the supermarket told the New Jersey Globe.”
A security official is heard saying on the video saying, “We have a license plate. She has a Pennsylvania plate, but it looks like the mail’s from Jersey.”
The incident occurred about two weeks ago. It’s not immediately clear if the same postal employee had dumped other trays of mail into other dumpsters along the way.
Kean, locked in a close race with Democrat Sue Altman that could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives, said he was disturbed by the allegations.
“I believe in the security of our elections and voting by mail, but this incident is deeply troubling. I hope the USPS acts swiftly to resolve whatever crimes have been committed, and I urge them to be open and transparent about the specifics of this incident,” Kean said. “Protecting the integrity of our democracy is imperative.
Xavier Hernandez, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, told the New Jersey Globe that “the Postal Service is aware of the allegation of mishandled political mail.”
“We have full confidence in our more than 640,000 employees who are committed and actively working to deliver the nation’s election mail securely and in a timely manner,” Hernandez said. “We have referred this incident to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and have nothing further to offer.”
In 2020, Nicholas Beuchene, a 26-year-old letter carrier from Kearny, pleaded guilty to charges that he disposed of a large quantity of mail, including roughly 200 vote-by-mail ballots sent to West Orange, into a dumpster in North Arlington.
This story was updated at 5:24 PM on November 3 with comment from a USPS spokesman.