Ballots sitting inside drop boxes in Oregon and Washington were burned early Monday morning in suspected arson attacks.
In Portland, Oregon, police responded to an incendiary device that was ignited at around 3:30 a.m. Pacific time. Security personnel in the area had already extinguished the fire by the time responders arrived at the scene.
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Just north of the border in Vancouver, Washington, officials responded to smoke coming out of a ballot drop box, in which hundreds of ballots were discovered to be burned at about 6:30 a.m. Pacific time.
The Clark County auditor told KATU the last ballot pickup at that location was 8 a.m. Sunday, which means hundreds of ballots were inside at the time of the fire. The county said there were likely only a few ballots that could be salvaged.
The ballot box in question is located at the Park and Ride at Fisher’s Landing Transit Center near Southeast 162nd Avenue in Vancouver. Voters who dropped off their ballot here after 8 a.m. on Sunday are being told to contact the Election Auditor’s Office as soon as possible to receive a new ballot.
Voters who dropped off their ballots at this location are casting votes for one of the tightest House contests in the country this cycle. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), a centrist Democrat, is seeking reelection in the Republican-leaning district. She is running against Republican Joe Kent, who she narrowly beat by fewer than 3,000 votes in 2022.
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Vancouver and Portland are neighboring cities on opposite sides of the Columbia River, but it is unknown at this time if the attacks are connected to one another. Both incidents are being investigated as an arson attack.
This is a developing story and will be updated.