Investigators identify 'suspect vehicle' in ballot drop box fires in the Pacific Northwest

Two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were set ablaze in apparent cases of arson in the early morning hours Monday, and elections officials at one site said they feared that hundreds of ballots had been destroyed.

The police in Portland, Oregon, said that officers responded around 3:30 am to a fire at a ballot box in the city, eventually determining that "an incendiary device was placed inside the ballot box and used to ignite the fire." After determining that the fire was a result of arson, the Portland Police Bureau asked the public for tips to help identify the perpetrator.

Election officials just to the north, in Vancouver, Washington, said a fire was reported at a ballot drop box there about an hour after the one in Portland. Police were also investigating that episode and reported finding a suspicious device next to the box.

Mike Benner, a spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau, said that investigators believed the two fires were connected and that a "suspect vehicle" had been identified from surveillance footage. The FBI said it was investigating both fires "to determine who is responsible."

"It's heartbreaking," Greg Kimsey, the Clark County auditor, said in an interview. "It's a direct attack on democracy. Interfering with people's vote is anti-American."

Kimsey estimated that hundreds of ballots were destroyed in the Vancouver box. He said that anybody who had deposited their ballot in that drop box after 11 am Saturday, when the box was last emptied, should contact the elections department to obtain a replacement.

Elections officials in Portland said the fire triggered canisters inside the ballot box that discharged a powdered fire suppressant, protecting almost all the ballots there. For three that suffered damage, the Multnomah County Elections Division said it would contact each voter to ensure they receive a replacement ballot. The department urged people to call 911 if they notice suspicious activity around any ballot box.

Last week, a fire at a Phoenix curbside postal collection box led to the arrest of a man now accused of arson. That fire damaged mail and about 20 ballots. Police officials there have said the man who was arrested did not appear to have political motivations but had told officers that he wanted to be arrested.

The Department of Homeland Security warned in an intelligence report in July about the threat of "incendiary and explosive materials" being dropped into ballot boxes. The information, the report said, came from an unidentified DHS informant who had posted online about attacking ballot boxes and received a deluge of suggestions about how to do it, including using "cherry bombs, road flares, lighting gel, gasoline, kerosene, a rag soaked with linseed oil, and 'paper-shaped incendiary device' with white phosphorus."

Neither Oregon nor Washington is considered a swing state in the presidential election, but both have a range of closely watched elections down the ballot. Vancouver voters are among those deciding the competitive 3rd Congressional District race between Rep.Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat, and the Republican challenger, Joe Kent. Portland has a tense mayoral race on the ballot.

Gluesenkamp Perez, in a statement, called for an overnight law-enforcement presence to be posted at all ballot boxes in Clark County, Washington, through Election Day.

"Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence," she said.