Suspected arsons destroy hundreds of ballots in Oregon and Washington

In Portland, Oregon, police responded to an incendiary device that ignited around 3:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Security personnel in the area had already extinguished the fire when emergency services arrived on the scene.

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Just north of the border in Vancouver, Washington, officials responded to smoke coming from a ballot box where it was discovered around 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time that hundreds of ballots had been burned.

The Clark County auditor told KATU that the last ballots at that location were collected at 8 a.m. Sunday, meaning hundreds of ballots were in at the time of the fire. The county said there were likely only a few ballots that could be saved.

The ballot box in question is located at the Park and Ride at Fisher’s Landing Transit Center near Southeast 162nd Avenue in Vancouver. Voters who dropped off their ballots here after 8 a.m. on Sunday are asked to contact the elections auditor as soon as possible to receive a new ballot.

Voters who dropped off their ballots at this location will be casting their ballots in one of the toughest House elections in the country this cycle. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), a centrist Democrat, is seeking re-election in the Republican-leaning district. She is running against Republican Joe Kent, whom she narrowly defeated in 2022 by fewer than 3,000 votes.

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Vancouver and Portland are neighboring cities on opposite sides of the Columbia River, but it is not known at this time if the attacks are related. Both incidents are being investigated as arson.

This is a developing story and will be updated.