Ballot Box Fires in Oregon and Washington are Connected, Police Say
The Seattle Times
(TNS)
Oct. 28—A fire caused by an "incendiary device" damaged hundreds of ballots inside a Vancouver, Washington, ballot box early Monday, potentially affecting one of the most competitive congressional races in the country.
Police suspect a person driving a black or dark-colored 2001-2004 Volvo S60 with no front license plate had set a similar fire about one hour before to a drop box in Portland; three ballots were damaged. The fires in Portland and Vancouver, including one set inside another Vancouver drop box Oct. 8, are believed to be connected, Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Mike Benner said in a news conference Monday.
The FBI is investigating the three cases, officials said. The person who did it faces potential charges of unlawful use of a weapon, obstructing governmental or judicial administration and illegal acts relating to voting machines or vote tally systems, Benner said.
Early Monday morning, Vancouver police extinguished the fire near Fisher's Landing Transit Center, located in a Democratic stronghold in Washington's competitive 3rd Congressional District. The race for U.S. representative there is seen as key for partisan control of the House, where Republicans currently have a narrow majority.
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey encouraged anyone who used that ballot box after 11 a.m. Saturday, when it was last cleared, to go into or call the Clark County Elections office at 564-397-2345 immediately to replace their ballot.
"It's heartbreaking," Kimsey said. "It's a direct attack on democracy."
The Portland fire happened at a ballot drop box outside the Multnomah County Elections Division office in Southeast Portland at 3:30 a.m. Monday, Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said in a statement. That location is about 5 miles southwest of Vancouver.
Security personnel working nearby extinguished the flames by the time officers arrived, according to the Portland Police Bureau. Investigators determined someone had attached an "incendiary device" to the ballot box, causing the fire, which is being investigated as arson, police said.
Investigators reviewed surveillance camera footage and identified the Volvo, a "suspect vehicle," parked next to the Portland drop box.
The FBI is conducting a "separate but parallel" investigation of the fires, and is collaborating with the Vancouver and Portland police and the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, Benner said.
In Vancouver, U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D- Washougal, and Joe Kent, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, are facing off in a rematch from 2022 to represent the 3rd District, with both parties pouring millions into the race. The district covers much of Southwest Washington, including Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark and Skamania counties and a small portion of Thurston County.
While Gluesenkamp Perez beat Kent by just 2,629 votes across the entire district in 2022, she led by 22,187 votes in Clark County, which contains Vancouver and borders Portland, according to the county's general elections results.
Monday's fire in Vancouver, reported to police around 4:30 a.m., was the second time in about three weeks that an incendiary device had caused a fire inside a ballot box in the city, Kimsey said.
Police found a similar device at another drop box in downtown Vancouver on Oct. 8, but there were no ballots inside the box at the time, he said. Ballots were mailed to voters on Oct. 18.
Vancouver police did not immediately respond to inquiries about the incidents.
In a statement Monday, Gluesenkamp Perez said she has requested "overnight law enforcement presence" at all ballot boxes in Clark County through Election Day, Nov. 5.
In Oregon, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office is "stepping up" patrols and stationing uniformed and nonuniformed deputies around ballot boxes in the county and at the county's elections division office, said agency spokesperson Carey Kaer at the Portland news conference.
"Our right to vote needs to be protected under all circumstances," Gluesenkamp Perez's statement said. " Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence."
In response to the fires, Washington Republican Party Chair Jim Walsh — a state House member who represents the 19th district, which includes Southwestern Washington cities such as Longview and Long Beach but not Vancouver — said on X that Washington "needs to get back to in-person, same-day voting."
But in a video shared Monday on X, Kent called the fires "attacks against our democratic process" and encouraged Clark County voters who did not want to use a ballot box to drop theirs off at the auditor's office near downtown Vancouver.
"No one should be intimidated," he said. "This should not deter anyone from voting."
The two ballot box fires in Vancouver are the only ones that have been reported to the Washington Secretary of State's office during this election cycle, office spokesperson Greg Tito said in a phone call Monday.
"I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state," Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a statement Monday. "Despite this incident, I have complete confidence in our county elections officials' ability to keep Washington's elections safe and secure."
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat representing Washington, said in a statement Monday that her office has been in contact with Hobbs, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, and she would make "any federal resources necessary to help carry out the elections."
"Washingtonians will not be intimidated when it comes to voting," Cantwell said.
As of Friday, about 1.12 million ballots had been returned in Washington, according to the Secretary of State's Office. The state has about 4.97 million voters overall.
Video taken by KATU showed a person raking burning ballots out of the drop box and onto a smoldering pile on the sidewalk. After the flames were extinguished, the video showed two people transferring the scorched and rain-soaked ballots into a black bag.
The Fisher's Landing Transit Center ballot box had contained hundreds of ballots that had been dropped off there since 11 a.m. Saturday, Kimsey said.
Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad, in a statement Monday, called the fire an "attempt to disenfranchise Washington voters" and asked residents to check the status of their ballot at VoteWA.gov.
" Washington Democrats trust law enforcement and the Clark County Auditor to find those responsible and hold them accountable," she said.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security analysts had issued a series of reports this summer warning law enforcement agencies about a "heightened risk" of attacks on ballot drop boxes during the 2024 presidential election, WIRED magazine reported Oct. 17.
In Arizona, Phoenix police arrested a man last week in connection with a postal box fire that damaged mail-in ballots. The man said he lit the fire because he wanted to be arrested, according to The Arizona Republic.
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