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Officials in Washington and Oregon are investigating fires set Monday morning in two ballot drop boxes that destroyed hundreds of ballots in the final days of the 2024 election.
Why it matters: The arson comes as vote-by-mail voting has faced legal and political challenges, with litigation across the country and a growing web of election-related conspiracy theories.
- Washington and Oregon, where the drop boxes were set ablaze, both hold vote-by-mail elections.
Driving the news: Portland Police Bureau said in a statement that officers responded to the scene of a fire around 3:30 a.m. Monday, where they discovered “an incendiary device” inside a ballot drop box that was used to start the fire.
- The Multnomah County Elections Division in Oregon said in a statement that only three ballots were damaged, while the rest were protected by fire suppressant in the box. Voters with damaged ballots will be contacted, per the release.
Zoom out: In nearby Vancouver, Washington, a separate fire damaged hundreds of ballots.
- Per a statement from local police, officers responded to “an arson at a ballot box” around 4 a.m. to find the drop-off box “smoking and … on fire.”
- Elections officials said hundreds of ballots were burned, per local reports.
- Videos shared by KATU News showed what appeared to be piles of smoldering papers being pulled from the box.
- Washington State Democratic Party chair Shasti Conrad recommended all voters who dropped their ballots off after 11 a.m. Saturday at the drop box that was targeted check the status of their ballot.
A suspect was also arrested in Phoenix in connection with a mailbox fire at a United States Postal Service location last week.
- Officials say his motivation was not political.
The big picture: As election officials across the country have engaged in broad efforts to convince Americans that the 2024 election is secure in a cycle marked by pervasive misinformation, intelligence agencies have warned of very real threats posed by domestic extremists fueled by election-related conspiracy theories.
- In a Joint Intelligence Bulletin reported on by NBC News, FBI and Homeland Security officials warned that domestic actors looking to disrupt the vote pose a threat to the election and inauguration.
- Ballot drop boxes were named as a specific area that could see attacks or violence, NBC reported.
Intelligence officials have warned that election workers could face heightened threats, exacerbated by false narratives spread during the 2020 election.
- The Justice Department has investigated dozens of reports of threats against election workers across the country, several of which have resulted in criminal charges.
Flashback: Last month, election officials in at least 15 states were targeted with suspicious packages and multiple secretaries of state reported being sent letters containing white powder.
Go deeper: America’s new election shields: panic buttons, bulletproof glass