AUSTIN (KXAN) — A photo taken by an absentee voter in Austin appears to show mail-in ballots leaking from a United States Postal Service mailbox.
Jane Hammons of Austin said she took the photo of the drop box at the USPS location at South Congress Avenue and Ben White Boulevard at 1:51 p.m. Tuesday, the first day of early voting.
“You know, I’m 67 so I have an absentee ballot,” Hammons told KXAN. “That should be super easy, just to mail it. That’s like the easiest thing ever and I couldn’t even do that. Not safely, anyway.”
By 3 p.m., KXAN verified the ballots were no longer leaking from the mailbox.
USPS responded to KXAN’s requests for information and said the back up was caused by several packages blocking the chute, which stopped the mail-in ballots from being deposited properly.