Hundreds of early votes cast for the U.S. presidential election have been destroyed in two suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon, exacerbating tensions ahead of next Tuesday’s heated election campaign.
Police said Monday that the fires in both states appear to be related and that the vehicles involved have been identified, according to the Associated Press.
According to local media, firefighters were called to the city of Vancouver, Washington at 6:30 a.m. after receiving reports of smoke coming from a ballot drop box.
Local television station KATU reported that it captured footage of responders releasing stacks of burning ballots into the compound. Even after the fire was extinguished, the ballots continued to smolder.
Hundreds of ballots are believed to have been inside when smoke was reported coming from the last empty box at 8 a.m. Sunday. KATU subsequently reported that only a few of the ballots deposited there were preserved.
The election auditor for Clark County, the municipality that controls the drop boxes, said voters who dropped off their ballots after 11 a.m. can request new voting documents through a link on the county’s elections webpage. .
“Our democracy has no place for political violence or interference with our fellow citizens, election officials, or voting infrastructure…Our right to vote must be protected under all circumstances. We cannot give in to intimidation and must continue to stand up against unpatriotic acts like this,” said local lawmaker Marie Grusenkamp Perez.
He called for law enforcement officers to be at every ballot box in the county overnight until Election Day, saying, “We cannot risk losing a single vote to arson or political violence in Southwest Washington.” Ta.
The fire was reported after a similar incident near Portland, Oregon, where police said an incendiary device was ignited inside a ballot box near a building that houses the Multnomah County Elections Office.
Security personnel extinguished the fire before police arrived. The device was deactivated and removed by the local bomb squad.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned about vandalism of ballot drop boxes in a September memo obtained by the public records watchdog group Property of the People. The agency said in an intelligence report that election infrastructure is considered an “attractive target for some domestic violent extremists” and that dropboxes would be considered a “soft target” because they are more accessible. Ta.
The agency said social media posters on forums frequented by extremists had shared ideas for attacked dropboxes, including “roadside flares, fireworks, petroleum fuels, linseed oil and They include phosphorus, cement and foam, bleach and other chemicals, and agricultural equipment. . Other methods include placing fake signs claiming the drop box is malfunctioning, setting up decoy drop boxes, or placing “timed explosives” in the drop boxes. They also discussed ways to avoid detection by law enforcement.
“Damaged ballot boxes can temporarily reduce the opportunity and accessibility of voting and prevent voters from voting if there is a safety concern at the targeted ballot box or in the vicinity of the damaged ballot box.” may be frightening,” DHS said in the information preparation. “Successful destruction of ballot drop boxes could encourage other related grievances to take similar action.”
The incident occurred days after a U.S. Postal Service mailbox containing a small number of ballots was set on fire in Phoenix, Arizona, last Thursday.
Police arrested a 35-year-old man and admitted to the crime while in custody. The suspect also stated that his actions were not politically motivated and that he committed the crime to get himself arrested.
The Guardian has reported that far-right election denial groups supporting Donald Trump are monitoring election drop boxes as part of their campaign in the run-up to next week’s vote. Officials are bracing for disruption and challenges to counting votes.
