Ballots destroyed after arson attacks on drop boxes in Portland and Vancouver [View all]

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Washington and Oregon’s robust election system came under a new and disturbing attack early this morning when an arsonist (or possibly multiple arsonists) attacked drop boxes on both sides of the Columbia River with incendiary devices that started fires and destroyed ballots. The attack in Vancouver, Washington targeted a drop box at 3510 SE 164th Avenue, while the attack in Portland, Oregon targeted a drop box at 1000 Block of Southeast Morrison Street, near the Multnomah County Elections Division building.

The attack in Portland, Oregon did little damage to ballots because the drop box had fire defenses in place. “Elections officials in Multnomah County said only three ballots were destroyed at the ballot box at Southeast 10th and Morrison streets in Portland, thanks to a fire suppressant inside the box,” The Oregonian reported.

Multnomah County Elections says that the three affected voters will get replacement ballots and all of the ballots in the affected box will be counted.

A significant number of ballots were destroyed in the Vancouver attack — hundreds, in fact. Footage captured by news crews shows their burnt remains on the sidewalk next to the drop box. Urban Vancouver is Democratic, so it’s likely that many of the ballots in the targeted drop box contained votes for Democratic incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who is running in an extremely tight race with Republican Joe Kent for U.S. House of Representatives — a race NPI’s polling indicates is a tossup.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2024/10/ballots-destroyed-after-arson-attacks-on-drop-boxes-in-portland-and-vancouver.html