The Portland Police Bureau said officers were called to a fire in Oregon around 3:30 a.m. local time on Monday at a ballot box with an “incendiary device.” Security personnel quickly extinguished the flames.
Steve Berndt, a spokesman for the FBI’s Seattle office, said federal authorities are investigating these cases with the assistance of state and local law enforcement agencies.
Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott acknowledged that a fire suppression system inside the drop box protected nearly all the ballots, but three were damaged. Officials will use the unique identifier on the ballot envelope to contact voters and provide them with a replacement ballot, CNN reported.
Voters who submitted their ballots between 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Monday should contact the Multnomah County Elections Department if they have concerns, Scott said.
Scott reassured voters that even if their ballot was in an affected box, their vote would still be counted. “Voters should be assured that their vote will be counted, even if the ballot is in an affected box.” In Vancouver, another ballot box was set on fire at a bus stop early Monday morning, according to Vancouver Police.
Police found a “suspicious device” next to the burning box. The Clark County Elections Office said hundreds of ballots were affected, CNN reported.
City of Vancouver spokeswoman Laura Shepherd advised anyone who dropped off their ballot in a drop box after 11 a.m. Saturday to check the status of their ballot.
Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs acknowledged that some ballots were damaged and condemned the incident, stressing the importance of election worker safety. He condemned any act that threatens the election process and expressed confidence in local election officials to ensure a safe election in Washington.
“We take the safety of our election workers seriously and will not tolerate threats or acts of violence that seek to undermine our democratic process,” Hobbs said.
“I strongly condemn any act of terrorism aimed at interfering with lawful and fair elections in Washington state…Despite this incident, I will keep Washington state elections safe for all voters. I have full confidence in the ability of county election officials.”
The two ballot drop boxes are about 25 miles apart. The Vancouver box is located in a battleground district represented by U.S. Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez, who is in a rematch with Republican Joe Kent, backed by former President Donald Trump.
Similar incidents have been reported recently, including a mailbox set on fire outside a Phoenix post office and an unknown number of ballots damaged, according to CNN.
The Phoenix Police Department said a 35-year-old man was charged with arson, saying there was no political motive in the incident.
These fires come as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security say “election-related grievances” such as beliefs of voter fraud could prompt domestic extremists to commit acts of violence ahead of or after the November election. This occurred in response to a warning.
