Fires set in separate incidents in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington.
Two ballot boxes in Washington state were set on fire on Monday, destroying hundreds of election ballots.
The first fire was lit early in the morning in a drop box in Portland, where the box’s interior fire suppression system extinguished the fire after it destroyed three ballots. Security guards were quickly alerted to recover the remaining ballots. A few hours later, another fire was set at a drop box in Vancouver. Its fire suppression system was also activated, but not before hundreds of ballots were destroyed in the blaze.
“Heartbreaking,” said Election Auditor Greg Kimsey of Vancouver and the other towns within Clark County. “It’s a direct attack on democracy.”
Auditor Kimsey instructed all voters who dropped their ballots in that drop box after 11 a.m. Saturday to contact his office for replacement ballots. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the state would not tolerate threats or acts of violence meant to derail voting.
“I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state,” Secretary Hobbs said.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For state and local election officials to be diligent in their efforts to ensure election integrity.
- For election personnel to increase security around drop boxes to protect voters’ ballots.
Sources: AP News, USA Today
