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Hundreds of ballots awaiting pickup were destroyed in Vancouver, Wash., overnight when two ballot boxes—one in Washington, one in Oregon—were set on fire in what officials say are connected arson incidents.
The targeted ballot box in Multnomah County, located in the 1000 block of Southeast Morrison Street, stands next to the county’s Elections Division office. Every box in the county is equipped with a fire suppression device, which detects heat and coats the inside of the box with a dry chemical suppressant. This technology extinguished the flames without leaving too much damage.
Multnomah County elections director Tim Scott said three ballots were damaged out of the hundreds in the box, which has already been replaced. The voters’ names on all three ballots were legible, and the county plans to notify those affected voters. (Anyone who dropped off their ballot at the Morrison Street site between 3:30 pm Saturday and 3 am Monday can reach out to the elections hotline at 503-988-6826.)
Scott, who has been with Multnomah County elections for 16 years, said this is the first time any incident like this has occurred at the elections building. He said the division has been preparing for increased election security this fall. The ballot boxes are monitored 24 hours a day.
“We want to make sure that voters are confident with whatever choice they make, whether it is with mailing [the ballot]…putting it in their local ballot box, or whether it’s one of our 24-hour drop sites,” Scott said at a noon press conference. “I want every voter to be able to vote and do that safely.”
Vancouver voters were not as lucky. Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey says that while the county updated many of its ballot boxes this cycle with fire suppression devices, it “doesn’t appear it worked very well.” The targeted box was at 3510 SE 164th Ave. and was lit on fire and smoking. It has since been replaced.
Kimsey said the county is in the process of coming to a closer number, but is certain hundreds of ballots were damaged. Vancouver voters who deposited ballots into the affected box after 11 a.m. on Saturday can check their ballot status at votewa.gov. If it doesn’t appear as received by Oct. 28, the Clark County Auditor recommends getting a new ballot.
“We’re going to try to obtain fire suppression devices that work better,” Kimsey said at the news conference. “We are modifying our ballot retrieval schedule and encouraging voters to deposit their ballots before 5:30 in the evening.”
Clark County Elections Office employees will observe all 22 drop boxes throughout Clark County 24 hours a day, according to a 5 p.m. update from the Clark County Auditor. The Clark County Sheriff’s Department and Vancouver Police Department will both increase patrols around unincorporated Clark County and Vancouver respectively.
Vancouver saw a previous incident on Oct. 8 in which a ballot box was scorched by an incendiary device. Police believe the two overnight incidents are connected to this one and have identified a suspect vehicle: a black or dark-colored Volvo S-60, with a model year sometime between 2001 and 2004.
The FBI says it is also investigating.
Several officials in Multnomah and Clark counties deemed the acts attacks on democracy. The Vancouver ballot box is located in one of the nation’s most competitive congressional races: for Washington’s 3rd District, where Democratic incumbent Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is facing Republican Joe Kent.
“Make no mistake, an attack on a ballot box is an attack on our democracy and completely unacceptable,” Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said in a press release. “Whatever the motivation behind this incident, there is no justification for any attempt to disenfranchise voters.”