Mailbox fires destroy hundreds of ballots in Washington and damage three in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. — Firebombs were set off Monday at two polling places — 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 mailbox fire in Portland was quickly extinguished thanks to a mailbox fire suppression system and a nearby security guard, police said, and only three ballots 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, 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 Vancouver ballot box also had a fire suppression system, but that didn’t prevent hundreds of ballots from catching fire, said Greg Kimsey, a longtime elected auditor in Clark County, Washington, which includes Vancouver. He urged voters who left their ballots in the transit center box 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 the frequency of ballot collections and move collection times to the evening, Kimsey said, to avoid leaving ballot boxes full of ballots overnight if similar crimes are deemed more likely.

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

Ballot drop boxes have come under increasing criticism from Republicans and have been the focus of baseless right-wing conspiracy theories in recent years tied to former President Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. An Associated Press survey of U.S. state election officials found there were no widespread problems with drop boxes in 2020, and no issues that could have affected the results.

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

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

Authorities said at a news conference in Portland that enough material from the incendiary devices had been recovered to show that the two fires Monday were related — and that they were also linked to an incident on Oct. 8, when an incendiary device on another ballot was placed. drop box in vancouver. No ballots were damaged in that incident.

Surveillance footage captured a Volvo pulling up to a mailbox in Portland, Oregon, just before nearby security personnel discovered a box fire on Monday, Mike Benner, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, told a news conference. The incendiary devices were attached to the outside of the boxes.

The FBI also investigated. The fire suppression systems at the polls in Washington and Oregon are designed to activate when temperatures reach within a certain point, coating the ballots with a fire-suppressing powder.

The system appeared to have worked at the Portland mailbox and security personnel were nearby to help extinguish the fire. Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said the county has contracted with private security officers to have “roaming patrols” that travel around the county 24 hours a day and “keep an eye on” all drop boxes.

He said one of the security guards was at the county elections office, heard what sounded like an explosion — likely the activation of the fire suppression system — 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 asking for an overnight law enforcement presence placed at all polls in Clark County through Election Day.

“Southwest Washington cannot risk losing a single vote to arson and political violence,” her statement said.

In a video on the social platform X, Kent also condemned the “cowardly act of terror.” He said he trusted police to find out who was responsible, urged voters to make sure their ballots are counted and said he still has confidence in Washington’s ballot box system.

“No one should be intimidated,” Kent said.

Voters were encouraged to check the status of their ballot online at www.votewa.gov to track return status. If a returned ballot is not marked “received,” voters can print a replacement ballot or go to their local elections department for a replacement ballot, the Secretary of State’s office said.

John Burnside, 68, said he and his wife dropped off their ballots in the Vancouver box on Sunday afternoon and heard about the fire on the news the next morning. He checked the status of their ballots, didn’t see that they had been received by election officials and asked for new ones. They now plan to mail or hand-deliver their ballots, he said.

“I certainly support in-person voting simply because you know your ballot will go through,” he said. “It may be extra work, but it does provide a higher level of safety.”

Officials in Portland were able to identify the three voters whose ballots were damaged and planned to contact them and provide replacement ballots. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it would increase uniformed and plainclothes patrols around the mailboxes. On Monday afternoon, voters dropped off their ballots at the new mailbox that replaced the one that burned in Portland. Pam Parnell said the incident shocked her.

“It just seems so wrong,” said Parnell, who returned her ballot. “We have worked for more than 200 years for a country and voting rights.”

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said in a statement: “Voter intimidation or any criminal act designed to undermine the upcoming election is un-American and will not be tolerated.” US Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the state would not tolerate threats or acts of violence. intended to derail the vote.

“I strongly condemn all acts of terrorism aimed at disrupting lawful and fair elections in Washington State,” he said.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee said state and local election officials are doing everything they can to ensure every vote is counted accurately.

“This was a violent attack on democracy, and we will do everything we can to keep our election system strong and secure in Washington,” Inslee said in a statement. “There will be enhanced security around the ballot drop-off locations 24 hours a day.”

Last week, officials in Phoenix said about five ballots were destroyed and others damaged when a fire was set in a mailbox at a US Postal Service station there.