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Two incidents of ballot boxes being set on fire early Monday morning in Portland, Oregon, and nearby Vancouver, Washington, appear to be linked, according to police.
An identical black Volvo sedan was spotted at both crime scenes, and an “incendiary device” used in Portland was “similar in nature” to what happened in Vancouver, police said. They added that the circumstances matched an October 8 attempt to set fire to another ballot box in Vancouver.
“We don’t know the motive behind these acts,” Portland Police Bureau Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan said in a statement on Monday. “We do know acts like this are targeted and they’re intentional and we’re concerned about that intentional act trying to impact the election process. We’re dedicated to stopping this kind of behavior.”
The fires, which took place in the early morning hours at a ballot dropbox at a Vancouver transit center and outside the Multnomah County election offices in Portland, damaged three ballots in Portland and may have compromised hundreds in Vancouver.
Local officials said the incident was unprecedented.
“I’ve been with Multnomah County elections for 16 years. I’ve been in elections for 22 years,” county elections director Tim Scott told reporters of the Portland incident. “This is the first time any incident has occurred as far as I’m aware.”
Federal officials are assisting local police to investigate the ballot fires.
“The FBI is coordinating with federal, state, and local partners to actively investigate the two incidents in Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of Monday, October 28th to determine who is responsible,” the agency told The Independent.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it would increase patrols around drop boxes in the county.
Washington officials urged the public to monitor the status of their votes at VoteWA.gov and sought to reassure the public about the integrity of the election.
“Washington Democrats trust law enforcement and the Clark County Auditor to find those responsible and hold them accountable,” Washington Democrats chair Shasti Conrad said in a statement on Monday. “Voting is safe and easy, and Washington state is proud to have one of the most secure election systems in the country. We take the rights of every voter extremely seriously.”
Intelligence officials began warning this summer that “perceptions of voter fraud” could trigger a “mobilization to violence,” including attacks on election infrastructure.
The Department of Homeland security said it was monitoring one group online seeking information about “incendiary and explosive materials” to render ballots “impossible to process,” WIRED reported.
