Two ballot drop boxes 15 miles apart were lit on fire Monday morning in Washington and Oregon, likely destroying hundreds of ballots cast in the 2024 election.
Smoke was seen pouring out of a ballot drop box at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver, Washington — which is just north of Portland, Oregon — around 4:00 a.m. Footage captured by KATU ABC 2 showed firefighters pry open the back of the ballot drop box and extinguish a fire that appeared to have burned hundreds of ballots. KATU reported that authorities said only a few of the ballots could potentially be saved.
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The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said after arriving on the scene, officers saw smoke coming from the drop box and “located a suspicious device next to the box.”
“Members of the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit (MEDU) arrived and safely collected the device, and the fire was extinguished. Detectives from the Vancouver Police Arson team and the Vancouver Fire Marshals also responded,” VPD added.
The police department said the investigation was handed over to the FBI. Officials told voters that if they dropped off a ballot at the location after 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, they should immediately contact the Election Auditor’s Office for a new ballot.
A few hours before the ballot box in Vancouver was set on fire, police just across the state border in Portland, Oregon, responded to a fire at a drop box in the southeast part of the city. Authorities said an incendiary device was also set off in the Portland drop box, according to KATU. Authorities did not disclose whether any ballots in the Portland drop box had been destroyed.
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Clark County, Washington, where Vancouver is located, is a competitive area for Republicans and Democrats. The ballot drop box in Vancouver is located in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, where voters are casting ballots in a tight U.S. House race between incumbent Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican Joe Kent, CNN reported.
Presidential election results have also been close in Clark County, with President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton barely beating Donald Trump in 2020 and 2016.
