Colorado Postal Worker Guilty Of Casting Multiple Mail Ballots

A former Mesa County, Colorado, postal worker awaits sentencing after admitting she stole and cast mail-in ballots in the 2024 general election. It is one of those election crimes we are told does not happen, despite so many opportunities for fraud in the ballot chain of custody.  

Vicki Stuart, 64, and her alleged accomplice Sally Jane Maxedon, 60, were accused of identity theft, attempt to influence a public servant, and forgery. Maxedon has not entered a plea yet and is expected in court May 8, according to Mesa County Clerk of Courts office.

According to the Mesa County District Attorney’s office which investigated the cases, in October, county elections workers started getting calls from people who said they had been notified that their ballot was rejected because of signature discrepancies, but they reported they had not yet received their mail ballot, although they had received the “Informed Mail “notification — a photo of the ballot envelope addressed to them, to let them know it was on the way.

The reports came from people who lived near each other. Some of the ballots were mailed to locked U.S. Postal Service (USPS) neighborhood mailbox clusters, leading investigators to believe someone who worked for USPS was involved.

Stuart, a mail carrier at the time, substituted for the normal mail carrier on the affected route on Oct. 12. When questioned, she confirmed she delivered many ballots that day.

 But she also compared the name on the ballot to the name printed on individual mailboxes. If there was no match she held that ballot back. Stuart told investigators she marked them “return to sender” and sent them back to the main hub. USPS told investigators mail carriers should not do this because they don’t know all the names living at an address.

She denied any involvement with ballot theft when questioned on Oct. 24.

Investigators looked at five ballot envelopes with forged signatures that had not yet been opened, and checked for fingerprints on the ballots inside.

They found Maxedon’s fingerprints on at least one bogus ballot and then interviewed her on Nov. 5.

At first Maxedon told investigators the ballots were given to her by a random man she did not know who asked her to help test the voting system. She admitted casting ballots that did not belong to her, the DA’s complaint said.

But when investigators asked if she had any friends who work for USPS she named Stuart, and ultimately explained their alleged scheme.

She claimed the duo planned to test the electronic voting signature verification system by taking ballots, forging voter signatures, and then returning the ballots.

Investigators believe more than 20 voters were victimized.  

The more hands on a ballot, the more opportunity for fraud. Mail-in ballots take voting outside election offices and trusts the USPS with bags of ballots. From election worker, to postal sorter, to postal carrier, to voter, to postal carrier, to county election envelope opener, to ballot counter — each time a new hand touches a ballot, there is an opportunity for fraud. It only takes one person to tamper with a few ballots, for public confidence to be blown.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.