by Admin
Nov 5, 2024
As early voting proceeds all over the United States, several arson cases have been reported in different states across the country.
In Portland, Oregon, it was reported a “fire suppression system” suppressed the fire and a number of ballots were damaged to three.
Portland Police Authorities said they have begun investigating and reviewing surveillance footage in search to identify who is responsible.
Another attack occurred a week ago in Atlanta-Georgia, two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were damaged in an arson attack that destroyed hundreds of ballots at one location in the city of Vancouver in the state of Washington.
Police authorities said incendiary devices started the fires in the drop boxes in Portland and Vancouver.
The police further disclosed that evidence gathered from the scenes showed that the fires were all related and that they also are also all connected to an October 8 incident when an incendiary device was dropped at a different drop box in Vancouver.
Authorities said, hundreds of ballots were lost at a ballot box at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center when the drop box’s fire suppression system did not work as intended
Tim Scott, Multnomah County Elections Director, said that his department is looking into how to contact three people whose votes were destroyed by the blaze.
Greg Kimsey, Clark County Auditor, said the ballot box was last emptied at 11am on Saturday and voters who dropped their ballot papers hereafter are being urged to contact the office to get a new one.
Kimsey further described the suspected arson as “a direct attack on democracy.”
Drop boxes have been in use for years in the United States in states such as Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington, where ballots are mailed to all registered voters.
The use of drop boxes grew prominently in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as election officials sought options for voters who wanted to avoid crowded polling places or were worried about mail delays.