Ballot Box Fires In Oregon And Washington Linked, Say Police

Police believe two ballot box fires in neighboring cities in the Pacific Northwest are connected.

The FBI is investigating after drop boxes in Portland, Oregon , and nearby Vancouver, Washington , went up in flames early Monday morning.

At a press conference later on Monday, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner said that surveillance images showed a Volvo vehicle stopping at the Portland drop box just before the fire inside the box was discovered, The Associated Press reported.

Authorities added that enough material from the incendiary devices used to start the fires at both locations was recovered to suggest that the two fires were linked. They also believe that Mondays incidents were also connected to an earlier event, when an incendiary device was found close to a separate ballot drop box in Vancouver on Oct. 8.

In Portland, a fire suppressant inside the box protected all but three ballots, local officials said . In a statement , Multnomah County officials said that the three voters whose ballots were damaged would receive replacements.

The same protection system failed in Vancouver, which is about 10 miles across the Columbia River from Portland. Officials say hundreds of ballots were destroyed.

Heartbreaking, said Greg Kimsey, the auditor for Clark County in Washington, per AP. Its a direct attack on democracy.

Footage of the Vancouver incident captured by ABC affiliate KATU showed heavy smoke coming from inside the box, with first responders eventually putting out the flames.

The Clark County Elections ballot drop box at the Fisher's Landing Transit Center was lit on fire this morning. Clark Co. Auditor Greg Kimsey says hundreds of ballots were inside at the time, the last pickup being 11AM Saturday. Full story here https://t.co/sYkz8ydEqH @KATUNews pic.twitter.com/a8vw0QXXoY

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The Clark County Elections ballot drop box at the Fisher's Landing Transit Center was lit on fire this morning. Clark Co. Auditor Greg Kimsey says hundreds of ballots were inside at the time, the last pickup being 11AM Saturday. Full story here https://t.co/sYkz8ydEqH @KATUNews pic.twitter.com/a8vw0QXXoY
Evan Bell (@evanbellKATU) October 28, 2024