The FBI is investigating after two ballot boxes were set on fire in Oregon and Washington on Monday, potentially damaging hundreds of mail-in ballots just days before the presidential election.
Portland police responded to a fire in the early morning, around 3:30 a.m., which they said had been set by an “incendiary device.” Across the state line in Vancouver, Wa., police also discovered an early-morning arson at a ballot box, at 4 a.m., along with a “suspicious object” next to the box. FBI officers told the media that they are now “coordinating with federal, state and local partners to actively investigate the two incidents.” Officers did not say if the arsons would be investigated as domestic terror events.
Hundreds of ballots in Washington were destroyed, according to Clark County auditor Greg Kimsey. Although the Vancouver ballot box had a fire-suppression system, it did not work. A powdered fire suppressant protected all but three ballots in Portland, and Multnomah County election official Tim Scott said the city would be able to contact the three voters.
The ballot boxes are only 15 miles apart, and authorities believe that the arsons are linked. Police are now looking for a gray Volvo in connection with the arsons, as well as in connection with a third arson, which occurred in Vancouver on October 8.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Kimsey said. “It’s a direct attack on democracy. Interfering with people’s vote is anti-American.”
Department of Homeland Security officials warned Americans in July about “incendiary and explosive materials” being dropped in ballot boxes after an unidentified informant received a host of messages online about how to attack ballot boxes. Online forums suggested “cherry bombs, road flares, lighting gel, gasoline, kerosene, a rag soaked with linseed oil, and ‘paper-shaped incendiary device’ with white phosphorus” as possible incendiaries.
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“We don’t know the motive behind these acts,” Portland Police Bureau assistant chief Amanda McMillan said on Monday afternoon. “We do know acts like this are targeted and they’re intentional and we’re concerned about that intentional act trying to impact the election process. We’re dedicated to stopping this kind of behavior.”
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