Police say fires set at ballot boxes in Oregon and Washington are connected; 'suspect vehicle' ID'd

Incendiary devices were set off Monday at two ballot drop boxes — one in Portland and another in nearby Vancouver, Washington — destroying hundreds of ballots in what one official called a “direct attack on democracy” about a week before a heated Election Day.

Incendiary devices were set off Monday at two ballot drop boxes — one in Portland and another in nearby Vancouver, Washington — destroying hundreds of ballots in what one official called a “direct attack on democracy” about a week before a heated Election Day.

The early morning fire at the drop box in Portland was extinguished quickly thanks to a suppression system inside the box as well as a nearby security guard, police said, and just three ballots were damaged there.

But within a few hours, another fire was discovered at a transit centre drop box across the Columbia River in Vancouver. Vancouver is the biggest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, the site of what is expected to be 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 ballot box in Vancouver also had a fire suppression system inside, but that 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 centre box after 11 a.m. Saturday to contact his office for a replacement ballot.

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

The office will be increasing how frequently it collects ballots and changing collection times to the evening, Kimsey said, to keep the ballot boxes from remaining full of ballots overnight when similar crimes are considered more likely to occur.

The county also decided late Monday to hire workers through a staffing agency to monitor all of its drop boxes 24 hours a day until the election is over, Kimsey said. The workers will have instructions to simply observe the ballot boxes and not confront anyone. Instead, they will call 911 if they see anything suspicious, he said.