Two ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, were set on fire on Monday morning as voting has started for the 2024 presidential election.
In a press release, the Portland Police Bureau said, “On Monday, October 28, 2024, at approximately 3:30 a.m., Central Precinct officers responded to reports of a fire at a ballot box in the 1000 block of Southeast Morrison Street.”
The Portland Police Bureau explained that security personnel in the area were able to extinguish the ballot box fire by the time police officers arrived at the scene. Monday’s press release noted that police officers were able to determine that “an incendiary device was placed inside the ballot box and used to ignite the fire.” The press release added that the Portland Police Bureau’s Explosive Disposal Unit “cleared the device.”
Law enforcement officials have not yet disclosed the condition of the ballots that were located inside the Portland ballot box.
In addition to the ballot box fire in Portland, the Vancouver Police Department responded to a separate ballot box fire incident near Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver, Washington, on Monday, according to KATU 2.
READ MORE: Ballots damaged in USPS mailbox fire in Arizona
In a statement obtained by KATU 2, the Vancouver Police Department said, “This morning at about 4:00 a.m., Vancouver Police responded to an arson at a ballot box located at 3510 SE 164th Ave. It was reported that the ballot box was smoking and on fire. Officers arrived and located a suspicious device next to the box. The ballot box was smoking and was on fire.”
The Vancouver Police Department said the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit was called to the scene of the ballot box fire, collected the suspicious device, and extinguished the fire.
The Clark County elections auditor told KATU 2 that the last ballot pickup from the Vancouver ballot box was at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The outlet reported that while hundreds of ballots were in the ballot box at the time of the fire, it was likely that only a few of the ballots could be saved in the aftermath of the fire. As a result, voters who placed their ballots in the Vancouver ballot box after 11 a.m. on Saturday were encouraged to contact the Election Auditor’s Office and request a new ballot.
A video of the Vancouver ballot box fire shows first responders using a tool to remove piles of burning ballots from the ballot box and extinguish the fire. The video also shows individuals collecting the remains of the damaged ballots.
