CNN
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With just days until Election Day, hundreds of ballots were destroyed by fires this week at two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest, and investigators are searching for a culprit they say is responsible for both.
Many of the ballots in a drop box in Portland were unaffected, but hundreds of ballots were destroyed in a second ballot box fire in nearby Vancouver, Washington, election officials said. The incidents are believed to be related to a third incident earlier this month in Vancouver.
On Wednesday workers will begin searching through the damaged ballots for voter information in order to contact them about getting a new ballot, said Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey, according to the Associated Press. Officials believe that although damaged, the workers will be able to pull voter information from the ballots, he told the AP.
The damaged ballots are separate from an unknown number that were destroyed, Kimsey said.
Devices at both scenes Monday and a ballot box earlier in the month were marked with the words “Free Gaza,” the New York Times reported Tuesday, citing two law enforcement officials. The outlet said investigators are trying to determine if the suspect is a pro-Palestinian activist or someone trying sow discord.
CNN has reached out to the Portland Police Bureau, which declined to comment on the reported writing on the devices, but said they were sent for forensic analysis where they will be examined for “unique writings and markings.” CNN also reached out to the Vancouver Police Department, which referred inquiries to the FBI. The FBI also declined to comment.
The incidents come as a US Department of Homeland Security bulletin from September obtained by the watchdog group Property of the People warned, “Some social media users are discussing and encouraging various methods of sabotaging ballot drop boxes and avoiding detection, likely heightening the potential for targeting of this election infrastructure through the 2024 election cycle.
“Election infrastructure remains an attractive target for some domestic violent extremists and other threat actors with election-related grievances who seek to disrupt the democratic process and election operations,” the bulletin warned.
“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 Monday. “Whatever the motivation behind this incident, there is no justification for any attempt to disenfranchise voters.”
“We take the safety of our election workers seriously and will not tolerate threats or acts of violence that seek to undermine the democratic process,” said Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs.
“I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state.”
Here’s what we know:
An “incendiary device” was attached to the side of a ballot drop box when Portland Police responded about 3:30 a.m. Monday, and security personnel extinguished the fire, the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement.
At a bus station in Vancouver, Washington, just 15 miles away, a second ballot box was set on fire early Monday, according to the Vancouver Police Department. Responding officers discovered a “suspicious device” smoking and on fire next to the box, police said.
All ballot boxes in Multnomah County and Clark County have fire suppressant installed, election officials said during a news conference Monday. Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said fire suppressant inside the Portland box protected more than 400 ballots inside, and only three ballots were damaged.
Election officials were still counting all the ballots involved in the Vancouver fire, but believe hundreds of ballots were destroyed, said Clark County’s Kimsey.
Before any voters can be contacted by election officials, Kimsey said, the impacted ballots need to dry. The ballots got wet when it rained Monday as crews tried to put out the fire, he explained. Roughly 500 Clark County voters have requested replacement ballots, The Oregonian said, citing the auditor’s office.
Voting in Oregon and Washington is done almost entirely by mail or ballot drop off. Less than 1% of people in Multnomah County vote in person, according to Scott. In Clark County, 60% of the ballots received are from ballot drop boxes and 40% are received by mail, Kimsey said.
“Drop boxes are useful and secure ways voters can return their mail ballot without using the US Postal Service,” Jay Riestenberg, director of communications for Voting Rights Lab said. “They help cut down on ballots returned by mail, which can alleviate the stress put on the US Postal Service and local election officials during busy election seasons.”
But according to Voting Rights Lab, drop boxes have come under scrutiny by politicians and election officials, and 12 states have enacted bills banning or restricting drop boxes, half of which outright ban them.
John Burnside and his wife voted Sunday afternoon by depositing their ballots in a drop box near their Vancouver, Washington, home.
The next day, he saw reports that someone set fire to the box, destroying hundreds of votes.
“When I saw the video of them scraping the ballots out of there. I knew there was little chance that mine would have been working,” Burnside told CNN. “I don’t know that they were able to salvage any of the ballots out of that box.”
They’ve used that drop box in past elections, Burnside said, and it was disturbing that someone would destroy it.
“Our world has changed, and things that you may have taken for granted as secure in the past, you have to rethink,” he said.
Burnside said he looked online and saw their ballots had not been received, so they immediately ordered replacement ballots. This time, he said, they’ll drive across town to the election office so they can deliver their votes in person.
“It’s probably a 20-minute drive, but it’s well worth it at this point,” Burnside said.
Kimsey, the Clark County auditor, said anyone who dropped off a ballot at the damaged Fisher’s Landing Transit Center box between 11 a.m. on Saturday and 4 a.m. on Monday should request a replacement ballot online at VoteWA.gov.
In Oregon, election officials said they plan to contact the three affected voters using “unique identifiers on their ballot envelopes, so they can receive replacement ballots.”
“Voters should be assured that even if their ballots were in the affected box, their votes will be counted,” said Scott, the Multnomah County Elections director.
Evidence from the incendiary devices found at the ballot boxes Monday shows the fires are connected to each other, as well as to a third incident October 8, when an incendiary device was placed at a different drop box in Vancouver, said Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Mike Benner.
“We don’t know the motives behind these acts – sounds like a series of three at this point – but we do know that acts like this are targeted and intentional,” Portland Police Bureau Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan said. “We are concerned about that intentional act trying to affect the election process.”
Police identified a “suspect vehicle” seen leaving the scene of the fire in Portland, they said in a news release Monday – a black or dark-colored 2001-2004 Volvo S-60.
According to the Oregon Department of Driver and Motor Vehicle Services, 3,828 of those vehicles were registered in the state – 558 of which have a valid registration status.
The FBI and the US Attorney for the Western District of Washington put out a joint statement Tuesday, saying they “are working closely and expeditiously together to investigate the two incendiary fires at the ballot boxes” and “will work to hold whoever is responsible fully accountable.”
As Election Day nears, state leaders are encouraging citizens to vote despite the incidents, pledging increased security around the drop boxes.
“There are multiple ways for voters to cast their ballot and make sure their voice is heard,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said.
The ballot box in Portland has already been replaced, according to Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, and law enforcement in Multnomah County and Vancouver, Washington, plan to increase patrols of ballot boxes in the area.
“Voter intimidation or any criminal act to undermine the upcoming election is un-American & will not be tolerated,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said on X.
Inslee said in a statement Monday evening “there will be 24-hour enhanced security around ballot drop-off locations.” While law enforcement is increasing drive-by patrols, Kimsey said elections staff are acting as observers at all 22 drop box locations to report suspicious activity to 911.
A coalition of elected officials, businesses and community groups in Portland shared an open letter Tuesday calling on residents “to uphold our tradition of respectful civic participation during this election season.”
“As we navigate this election period, let us safeguard and advance our hard-won but still fragile progress, ensuring our actions strengthen rather than undermine our community’s growth,” the letter read.
Vancouver is in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, represented by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, where one of the most competitive House races in the country is taking place.
Following the ballot box fires, Gluesenkamp Perez requested overnight law enforcement patrols at drop boxes through Election Day.
The Democrat congresswoman told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins she isn’t angry about the damaged ballots for partisan reasons, but “because I’m an American who sees the corrosive and toxic environment that we’ve seen across the country come home in a really damaging and ugly way.”
Larry Olson, the vice president of Laserfab, a Washington state-based company that makes the ballot boxes used in Oregon’s Multnomah County, said his company works closely with election officials to design the ballot boxes to be as tamper-proof as possible. The boxes, which are made of steel and can weigh up to 1,000 pounds, are typically bolted to the ground and some counties have added fire suppressants to them, he said.
“Our boxes are obviously inanimate objects, and can be easily repaired or replaced, but the truly disheartening thing is seeing these officials come under attack,” Olson said.
CNN’s Nicole Chavez, Taylor Romine, David Williams and Natasha Chen contributed to this report.