Arson at ballot boxes in Vancouver and Portland destroy hundreds of ballots

Two ballot drop boxes were set on fire early in Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., on Monday morning, destroying hundreds of ballots, according to officials.

Local authorities said the two incidents, combined with a similar attempted arson at a Vancouver ballot box weeks ago, were “targeted and intentional.”

Around 3:30 a.m. in east Portland, city police responded after an “incendiary device” was used to set a fire inside a ballot box near the Multnomah County Elections Division building. The fire was extinguished by local security that worked in the area before police arrived, according to a news release.

Fire suppression devices inside the box helped put out the fire almost immediately, saving hundreds of ballots inside. Only three ballots were damaged, but not beyond recognition of who they belonged to, county election officials said in a release.

Video from a local television station captured police removing a small black device from the ballot box, which was scorched from the fire.

The ballot box had already been replaced as of Monday afternoon, authorities said in a press conference, and officials urged voters to submit their ballots despite the incidents.

“Voters should be assured that even if their ballots were in the affected box, their votes will be counted,” the release said.

In southeast Vancouver, about 10 miles away across the Columbia River, another ballot box was set on fire with a “suspicious device” at 4 a.m., local police said in a release. Hundreds of ballots in that drop box were destroyed after an internal fire suppression system failed.

The fire suppressants inside Vancouver’s ballot boxes were updated in the last few months, Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said at a joint press conference between Portland, Vancouver, Multnomah and Clark County officials.

“It doesn’t appear it worked very well,” he said. The office was still counting exactly how many ballots were damaged.

Authorities shared surveillance video of the suspect’s vehicle, a black or dark-colored 2001-04 Volvo S-60 with no front license plate.

Vancouver, which is in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, is home to one of the most anticipated elections in the House of Representatives.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat, is one of five House members seeking reelection in districts Donald Trump won in 2020. Her opponent, Joe Kent, whom she barely defeated in the midterms, is looking for a rematch -- one that might determine which party controls Congress next year.

In a statement, Gluesenkamp Perez requested an overnight law enforcement presence at all Clark County ballot drop boxes through election day.

“Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence,” she said.

“I condemn these attacks against our democratic process,” Kent said in a video posted to X, encouraging voters who used the ballot box to check their ballot status. “Stay focused. No one should be intimidated. This should not deter anyone from voting.”

The incident comes after another suspicious device was found at a Vancouver ballot box weeks earlier which officials called “very similar” in a press conference. Officials urged the community to report any suspicious activity around ballot boxes. No one was injured in any of the fires.

Potential charges for a suspect include illegal acts related to vote counting, possession or manufacturing of a destructive device, illegal criminal mischief and reckless burning, among others.