Ballot papers destroyed after fires in ballot boxes

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Incendiary devices were detonated at two ballot drop boxes — one in Portland and one in nearby Vancouver, Washington — on Monday, destroying hundreds of ballots for about a week in what one official called a “direct attack on democracy.” before a heated election day.

The early morning fire at the mailbox in Portland was quickly extinguished thanks to a fire suppression system in the mailbox and a nearby security guard, police said. Only three ballot papers were damaged there.

But within hours, another fire was discovered in a mailbox at a transit center across the Columbia River in Vancouver. Vancouver is the largest city in Washington's 3rd Congressional District and the prospective location one of the closest U.S. House races in the country, between first-term Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent.

The Vancouver ballot box also had a fire suppression system, but it failed to prevent hundreds of ballots from burning, said Greg Kimsey, the longtime elected auditor in Clark County, Washington, which includes Vancouver. He urged voters who dropped their ballots in the transit center mailbox after 11 a.m. Saturday to contact his office for a replacement ballot.

“Heartbreaking,” Kimsey said. “It is a direct attack on democracy.”

The office will increase ballot pickup frequency and move pickup times to the evening, Kimsey said, to prevent ballot boxes from remaining full of ballots overnight, when similar crimes are considered more likely.

Ballot boxes have been increasingly criticized by Republicans and have been the focus of ballot boxes Unfounded right-wing conspiracy theories in recent years surrounding former President Donald Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. A Associated Press poll of state election officials Across the U.S., it found there were no widespread problems with mailboxes in 2020 and none that could have influenced the results.

Six states have banned ballot drop boxes since 2020: Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and South Dakota, according to research by the Voting Rights Lab, which advocates for expanded voting access. Other states have restricted their use, including Ohio and Iowa, which now only allows one drop box per county, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Washington and Oregon, both states with mail-in voting, have long used ballot drop boxes.

At a news conference in Portland, authorities said enough material had been recovered from the incendiary devices to show that Monday's two fires were linked – and that they were also linked to an Oct. 8 incident During another ballot, an incendiary device was placed in a dropbox in Vancouver. No ballots were damaged in this incident.

Surveillance images showed a Volvo driving past a mailbox in Portland, Oregon, shortly before security guards nearby discovered a fire in the mailbox on Monday, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner said at a news conference. The incendiary devices were attached to the outside of the boxes.

The FBI also investigated.

The fire suppression systems at ballot boxes in Washington and Oregon were designed to activate when the internal temperature reaches a certain level and coat the ballots with a fire-extinguishing powder.

The system appeared to have worked at the Portland mailbox, and security personnel were nearby to help put out the fire. Multnomah County elections director Tim Scott said the county contracts with private security officers for “roving patrols” who drive around the county 24 hours a day and “keep an eye on” all mailboxes.

He said one of the guards was at the county elections office, heard what sounded like an explosion – likely the fire suppression system activating – and called police.

For unknown reasons, the system failed to prevent the destruction of hundreds of ballots in Vancouver.

Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement that she is requesting a nighttime police presence at all polls in Clark County through Election Day.

“Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence,” their statement said.

In a video published on the social platform X, Kent also condemned the “cowardly act of terror.” He said he trusts law enforcement to find out who is responsible, urged voters to make sure their ballots are counted and said he remains confident in Washington's ballot box system.

“No one should be intimidated,” Kent said.

Voters were encouraged to check their ballot status online at www.votewa.gov to track return status. If a returned ballot is not marked as “received,” voters can print a replacement ballot or visit their local elections department to obtain a replacement, the secretary of state's office said.

John Burnside, 68, said he and his wife cast their ballots at the polls in Vancouver on Sunday afternoon and heard about the fire on the news the next morning. He checked the status of her ballots, didn't see that they had been received by election officials, and requested new ones.

They now plan to either mail their ballots or drop them off in person, he said.

“I am definitely in favor of voting in person, simply because you know that the vote will go through immediately,” he said. “It may be extra work, but it increases safety.”

Portland officials were able to identify the three voters whose ballots were damaged and planned to contact them and provide them with replacement ballots. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said there will be increased uniformed and civilian patrols around mailboxes.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the state would not tolerate threats or acts of violence aimed at derailing the election.

“I strongly condemn any acts of terrorism intended to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state,” he said.

Officials said in Phoenix last week that about five ballots were destroyed and others were damaged when a fire was set in a mailbox at a U.S. postal station there.

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Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu contributed. Johnson reported from Seattle.