PORTLAND, Ore. — Hundreds of ballots were destroyed in a ballot box fire in Vancouver early Monday morning, and another ballot box fire in Portland destroyed three ballots. The fires happened about a week away from the Nov. 5 general election. Law enforcement officials believe the two incidents — and a similar Vancouver incident three weeks ago — are all linked.
Vancouver police officers responded around 4 a.m. Monday to a reported arson at a ballot box on Southeast 164th Avenue, near the Fisher's Landing Transit Depot. The officers found a "suspicious device" next to the ballot box, which was smoking and on fire, according to Vancouver police. A KGW crew saw flames and smoke coming from the ballot box around 6:30 a.m. The Metro Explosive Disposal Unit retrieved the device and the fire was extinguished, Vancouver police said.
Around 3:30 a.m. Monday, security at the Multnomah County Elections Division notified Portland police that they responded to a fire at a nearby ballot box on Southeast Morrison Street. Security personnel extinguished the fire before officers arrived. Portland police determined an "incendiary device" was put on the ballot box to ignite the fire. The bureau's Explosive Disposal Unit removed the device.
The drop box at the transit center in Vancouver was replaced later Monday.
Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey told KGW that hundreds of ballots were severely burned in the Vancouver box, many of which were destroyed. He said anyone who dropped off a ballot in that box after 11 a.m. on Saturday should contact the elections division at 564-397-2345 or elections@clark.wa.gov.
Kimsey said contracted workers would begin monitoring Clark County's 22 ballot boxes for suspicious activity. He said they'll be on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"Employees will not confront anyone," noted Kimsey. "They are there to observe and report any suspicious activities to the proper authorities."
The Clark County Sheriff's Office and Vancouver Police will increase patrols near drop box sites.
The Office of the Secretary of State in Washington said voters should check their ballot status online at votewa.gov to track its return status. If a returned ballot is not marked as "received," voters can print a replacement ballot or visit the elections department, located at 1408 Franklin Street in downtown Vancouver, for a replacement ballot, the secretary of state's office said.
People who have concerns who dropped their ballot off at the Multnomah County box between 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 and at 3 a.m. on Oct. 18 should call 503-988-6826. Anyone who sees suspicious activity around a ballot box is asked to call 911.
Detectives from the Vancouver Police Department's arson team and the Vancouver Fire Marshal's office also responded to the fire Monday morning. The FBI's Portland Division said the agency is investigating both the Vancouver and Portland incidents and working to find who is responsible. Anyone with information is asked to contact the nearest FBI office or provide information through tips.fbi.gov.
Anyone with information about the ballot box fire in Southeast Portland is asked to contact detective Meredith Hopper at Meredith.Hopper@police.portlandoregon.gov, or call the Portland Fire & Rescue Fire Investigation Unit's tip line at 503-823-3473 and reference case no. 24-276181.
Response from officials
Kimsey and other elections and law enforcement officials from the Vancouver and Portland areas held a news conference early Monday afternoon where they shared photos of a suspect vehicle believed to be connected to Portland incident, described as a black or dark-colored 2001-2004 Volvo S-60 with no front license plate and an unknown rear plate. Investigators believe the vehicle is tied to the two Vancouver incidents as well, according to a Portland police news release.
"We don't know the motive behind these acts — it sounds like a series of three at this point — but we do know that acts like this are targeted, and they're intentional. And we're concerned about that intentional act trying to affect the election process," PPB Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan said. "We're dedicated to stopping that kind of behavior."
If a suspect is arrested, potential charges could include possession of a destructive device, manufacturing of a destructive device, unlawful use of a weapon, first-degree criminal mischief, reckless burning, obstructing governmental or judicial administration and illegal acts related to voting machines or vote tally systems, according to Portland police public information manager Mike Benner.
The damage in the Portland box was limited to just three ballots, Multnomah County elections director Tim Scott explained, in part because a security guard in the elections building heard the incident and responded, and also because a built-in fire suppression device activated very quickly. The devices are inside every drop box in Multnomah County.
"They respond to heat within the ballot box, so clearly it got hot enough inside the ballot box for the fire suppressant devices to go off," he said. "We use canisters that have powdered fire suppressant so it limits the damage to ballots. It worked exactly as it was supposed to and coated the entire inside of the box."
The names of the voters on the three damaged ballot envelopes were still legible, he added, and the elections office will reach out to those voters to get them replacement ballots. All other ballots in the box will be processed normally. The damaged ballot box has already been replaced, Multnomah County chair Jessica Vega Pederson added.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler tried to reassure concerned voters on Monday.
"We absolutely want the public to feel safe in terms of casting their ballot," said Wheeler. "Don't forget that in Portland, we have vote-by-mail so if people don't want to cast their ballot in person they do not have to."
Clark County drop boxes have also contained fire suppression devices for the past four years, Kimsey said, and in fact new ones were installed in just the past couple months — but in this case the device in the Vancouver box apparently didn't work as intended.
"We're going to install — try to obtain — fire suppression devices that work better," he said. "We are modifying our ballot retrieval schedule and encouraging voters to deposit their ballots before 5:30 in the evening."
U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, whose district includes Vancouver and Clark County, issued a statement Monday condemning the incident and declaring that there is "absolutely zero place in our democracy for political violence against our fellow citizens, election workers, or voting infrastructure."
She also called for an overnight law enforcement presence at all ballot drop boxes in Clark County through Election Day.
"Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence," she said.
Asked about her comments at the news conference, law enforcement officials said they plan to step up both uniformed and non-uniformed patrols around all the ballot boxes in the area, but stopped short of pledging constant guards, citing the need to maintain the availability of police to respond to 911 calls.
"Vancouver police recognizes the importance of securing the boxes as much as we can while maintaining our ability to respond to calls to 911 throughout the city," Vancouver's interim police chief Troy Price said. "What I can tell you is we have developed a plan to ensure that we are keeping an eye on the boxes as much as possible with increased patrols."
Not every drop box in Multnomah County has a camera, Scott added, but he said that's part of why the elections office maintains roving security patrols that check in on each site regularly.
"Security officials are putting eyes on drop sites multiple times each day on a 24-hour schedule," he said.
