Police release a photo of the suspect's car

The Portland, Oregon Police Department released two photos of a suspect’s car after polls this year’s election were set on fire in Oregon and Washington state on Monday.

A ballot box in southeast Portland and at least one ballot box in the nearby Vancouver, Washington area were set on fire, according to police. The incidents come in the middle increased safety and security concerns as the November 5 elections approach.

Election officials said the fire in Vancouver resulted in hundreds of burned ballots.

Shasti Conrad, chairman of the Washington State Democratic Party, said in a statement to USA Today that the incident was “an attempt to disenfranchise voters,” and that the state party is confident that law enforcement and officials “will find those responsible and hold them accountable.” shout.”

“We do not know the motive behind these actions,” Amanda McMillan, assistant chief of the Portland Police Bureau, said in an interview press release. “We know that these types of acts are targeted and that they are deliberate, and we are concerned that this deliberate act is trying to influence the electoral process.”

The City of Vancouver said in a press release that police responded to an arson incident at a ballot box around 4 a.m. PDT on Monday. The Portland Police Bureau, which responded to reports of a fire at 3:30 a.m. PDT, said in its news release that the suspect vehicle it identified was linked to “two similar incidents” in the Vancouver area.

Detectives determined that the incendiary device that started the Portland fire was attached to the side of the coffin, according to Portland police. Area security personnel had already extinguished the fire when officers arrived.

Vancouver police found a suspicious device next to a ballot box that was on fire, according to the city, which said the FBI is investigating.

Department of Homeland Security response

In response to news of the attacks on ballot boxes, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to USA Today that the U.S. “remains in a heightened, dynamic threat environment and we continue to share information with our law enforcement partners about domestic threats violent extremists in the context of the 2024 elections.”

The department pointed out the possibility of attacks on ballot boxes in his country 2025 Domestic Threat Assessment only released this month.

“We expect that (domestic violent extremists) will pose the greatest physical threat to government officials, voters and election-related personnel and infrastructure, including polling places, polling places, voter registration sites, campaign events, political party offices and vote counting sites,” he said. the assessment.

The ministry has also warned that election officials and agencies could be targeted with false bomb threats, swatting, doxxing and letters containing white powder “to sow fear and disrupt campaign and election operations.”

“Some (domestic violent extremists) could also react violently if their preferred candidate loses, or they could try to exploit potential civil unrest if there are perceptions of election fraud,” the assessment said.