The Los Angeles County Registrar's Office and the U.S. Postal Service are investigating after 104 unopened mail-in ballots were found in a box on a sidewalk in East Hollywood over the weekend.

The registrar's office said early findings have led investigators to believe the finding represents a case of attempted mail theft rather than a serious attempt to disrupt the primary this summer. Voters affected by the suspected theft have been sent new ballots.

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"Thanks to the cooperation of the person who found the ballots, we were able to quickly respond and coordinate the secure pickup of the ballots," the office said in a statement shared with Fox 11. "We are cooperating with the United States Postal Service and law enforcement to investigate. Security protocols such as signature verification are in place to protect against any misuse or wrongdoing of Vote by Mail ballots."


The county added that those who believe their ballots are invalid are encouraged to contact the registrar's office directly. Voters who do not receive a new ballot by the end of the week are encouraged to register for the Where's My Ballot app, which will send information about voting and ballots through text message, email, and phone calls.

Christina Repaci, who discovered the ballots when walking her dog, said she noticed a box on the sidewalk that contained the ballots and took the box home to figure out what to do with the mail.

After attempting to contact local politicians and the police department and asking for help on social media with no answers, Repaci said Registrar Dean Logan contacted her personally to pick up the ballots.

"It was so much stress and for just one person to get back to me. What do I do here? Now, if it happens to someone else, they don't know what to do. They'll just put them in a dumpster or throw them in the trash," Repaci said, according to the outlet. "I just don't think it should have been this hard to figure out what to do with legal ballots. This is a country of freedom and our votes should matter, and something like this should never happen."

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Polls for the California primary open June 7. All mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or by election day and received no more than seven days after the election. Voters are also allowed to drop off a ballot at their county elections office by 8 p.m. the day of the election if concerned the ballot would not arrive in time, according to the California Secretary of State's office.