In Portland, Oregon, and nearby Vancouver, Washington, fires were deliberately set in ballot drop boxes, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of ballots.
The Portland Police Bureau reported that officers and firefighters responded to a fire in one ballot drop box around 3:30 a.m., discovering that an incendiary device had been placed inside.
Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott stated that a fire suppression system within the drop box saved nearly all the ballots, with only three sustaining damage. His office plans to contact those voters to assist them in obtaining replacement ballots.
A few hours later, television crews in Vancouver captured footage of smoke billowing from a ballot box at a transit center. Vancouver, the largest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, is the battleground for what is anticipated to be one of the tightest U.S. House races between first-term Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent.
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey reported to The Associated Press that the ballot drop box at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center also had a fire suppression system, but it failed to function properly. Responders retrieved a burning pile of ballots from inside the box, with Kimsey noting that hundreds were lost.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Kimsey remarked. “It’s a direct attack on democracy.”
Surveillance cameras monitored the drop box and its vicinity, he added. The last ballot pickup at the transit center drop box was at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Voters who dropped their ballots after that time were urged to contact the auditor’s office for replacements.
To prevent similar incidents, Kimsey indicated that the office would increase the frequency of ballot collections and adjust collection times to the evening, reducing the likelihood of full drop boxes overnight.
Earlier on October 8, an incendiary device was discovered near a ballot drop box in downtown Vancouver, but it did not cause any damage or destroy ballots, according to police. The FBI and other agencies are investigating these incidents.
Both Washington and Oregon conduct elections by mail, with registered voters receiving their ballots in the mail weeks ahead of elections, allowing them to return them either by mail or at ballot drop boxes.
In Phoenix last week, officials reported that approximately five ballots were destroyed and others were damaged when a fire was set in a drop box at a U.S. Postal Service station.
