Registrar: 12 Unvoted Mail Ballots, 14 Voter Guides Found Dumped Beside North County Road; USPS Investigating

Twelve unvoted, unfilled mail-ballot packets and 14 voter information pamphlets were found dumped beside a road near the Valley Center-Escondido line, and the San Diego County Registrar of Voters and the U.S. Postal Service are now investigating how they got there.

The election mail was discovered Thursday morning along Lake Wohlford Road, east of East Valley Parkway, less than a month before the Nov. 3 general election.

Scott Harmes, the resident who reported the discovery to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, said only ballots and voter guides were strewn along the road - no other mail. "The way they were spread out it almost looks like they were thrown out the window of a car," Harmes told ABC 10News.

A different driver collected the materials and turned them in to the Valley Center Post Office. The Postal Service confirmed the packets and pamphlets were redelivered to addresses in Pauma Valley and Valley Center.

'No evidence of widespread voter fraud'

In a statement, the Registrar of Voters said it "works closely with the U.S. Postal Service to investigate reports of potential mail-ballot tampering."

"There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in California or San Diego County, and reports of tampering are rare but taken seriously," the statement said. The Registrar also said there is no indication the ballots went missing while in its custody and that no one attempted to cast a vote on behalf of the affected voters.

Sandra Carey of Pauma Valley, whose ballot was among those found, said she and her husband received their ballots Saturday - hers bearing tire marks - and that she will not return hers by mail. "My ballot will be going with me to the polling place, where I will give it to them in person," Carey said.

"I think it's kind of fishy," she told ABC 10News. "We want everybody to have their own chance. This is about election integrity."

Election officials say voters can track their ballot through the state's Where's My Ballot? tool and report concerns to the Registrar at (858) 565-5800.