(The Center Square) – Hundreds of voters who returned their election ballots at a Vancouver, Wash., drop box over the weekend are urged to follow up with the Clark County Elections Office, following a Monday morning fire that likely damaged or destroyed hundreds of ballots in a suspected case of arson.
A drop box in Portland, Oregon, was also vandalized Monday morning.
A video posted by KATU-TV in Portland showed officers pulling burning envelopes from the flaming drop box located at the Vancouver Fisher’s Landing Transit Center.
“This morning at about 4:00 a.m., Vancouver Police responded to an arson at a ballot box located at 3510 SE 164th Ave.,” a news release from the city of Vancouver read. “It was reported that the ballot box was smoking and on fire. Officers arrived and located a suspicious device next to the box. The ballot box was smoking and was on fire. Members of the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit (MEDU) arrived and safely collected the device, and the fire was extinguished. Detectives from the Vancouver Police Arson team and the Vancouver Fire Marshals also responded.”
The Vancouver Police Department reported the FBI is now involved.
Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad posted a statement about the drop box arsons, urging voters to check the status of their ballot at VoteWA.gov, or by calling the Clark County Auditor’s Office at 564-397-2345.
“Washington Democrats trust law enforcement and the Clark County Auditor to find those responsible and hold them accountable,” she said.
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs posted a release Monday about the drop box arson.
“We take the safety or our election workers seriously and will not tolerate threats or acts of violence that seek to undermine the democratic process,” he said. “I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state. Despite this incident, I have complete confidence in our county elections official’s ability to keep Washington’s elections safe and secure for all voters.”
Jim Walsh, chair of the Washington State Republican Party, also urged voters to double-check with their county auditor, regardless of where in the state the ballot was mailed or left in a drop box, to ensure it will be counted on Nov 5. Walsh said the drop box arson events are evidence for why mail-in balloting is flawed.
“It’s a broken chain of custody,” Walsh told The Center Square. “The problem with our system is there is a step where nobody is taking care of your ballot and stuff like this can happen.”
Walsh said he always delivers his ballot to his county election office.
“Call that a little paranoid if you want, but the chance of it getting burned in an arson is less if I hand it to staff at the elections office,” he said.
The state representative from Aberdeen took issue with Hobbs’ statement following the arsons.
“It’s a ridiculous statement, and it’s like the kid at the end of ‘Animal House’ saying, ‘Stay calm, all is well,’ because clearly he cannot guarantee that your ballot is safe and remember his office doesn’t run the election processes, they just coordinate the 39 counties’ election processes,” Walsh said. “He’s trying to create a sense of security and control that he doesn’t have.”
A ballot drop box in Multnomah County in northwest Portland was also tampered with on Monday morning.
A news release from the county said the following: “Today at about 3:30 a.m., security at the Multnomah County Elections Division alerted the Portland Police Bureau they had responded to a fire at a nearby Multnomah County ballot box in the 1000 block of S.E. Morrison Street. Officers determined an incendiary device had been used to ignite the fire. The Police Bureau’s Explosive Disposal Unit (EDU) responded to the scene and cleared the device.”
The county reported that the fire suppressant inside the ballot box protected virtually all the ballots, with only three damaged. Those three voters are being contacted about getting a replacement ballot.
