PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Investigations are underway after authorities say incendiary devices were placed near two ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon, and a third in Vancouver, Washington, and used to start the fires in the early morning hours on Monday.
Portland Police Bureau says the incidents were possibly connected to each other as well as another incident that took place on Oct. 8.
“We got a call that indicated one of the ballot boxes was smoking. We found a device there next to the ballot box,” Vancouver police officials said of the previous October incident. “Today’s incident was very similar.”
According to Portland police, at around 3:30 a.m. Monday, officers responded to reports of a fire at a ballot box on Southeast Morrison Street, near the Multnomah County Elections Division office. By the time officers arrived, they said the fire had already been put out by security employees who work in the area.
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Authorities said they found that an incendiary device had been placed in the ballot box and used to start the fire.
Information about the incident is still limited and authorities are asking anyone with information to contact Portland police or Portland Fire & Rescue.
Just half an hour later, Vancouver police said a Clark County ballot box was also found to be on fire.
When officers arrived, they said the ballot box at 3510 SE 164th Ave. was smoking and on fire, and the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit arrived to collect the explosive device. Portland police say they identified a suspect vehicle in connection with the Multnomah County case, which they later revealed to be a Volvo.
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“We don’t know the motive behind this — these — acts. It sounds like a series of three at this point,” officials with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said. “We do know that acts like this are targeted and intentional.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigations is investigating all three incidents. Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI.
It’s unclear how many Clark County ballots were damaged, but U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez said “hundreds of ballots” were destroyed.
Police inspect the incendiary devices attached to a SE Portland ballot box (KOIN)
Tim Scott, Multnomah County’s elections director, said a fire suppressant inside the ballot box on Southeast Morrison helped protect the ballots inside and that only three ballots were damaged.
Multnomah County’s Elections Office will contact those voters via unique identifiers on their ballot envelopes to receive replacement ballots.
“We have multiple systems and security measures in place to ensure your ballot is safe,” Scott said in a statement. “Your Elections team is working hard to make sure that every vote counts.”
A similar situation happened in early October near a ballot box in Vancouver.
In the incident, authorities said the ballot box wasn’t compromised and the suspicious device was safely removed by the bomb squad.
