The suspected arson fires of ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington this week is a reminder of how the popular collection devices have been the subject of false conspiracy theories since the 2020 election
Two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were damaged in a suspected arson attack just over a week before Election Day, destroying hundreds of ballots at one location in Vancouver, Washington.
At the other, in neighboring Portland, Oregon, it appears a fire suppression system worked to contain the blaze and limited the number of ballots damaged to three. Authorities are reviewing surveillance footage as they try to identify who is responsible.
Here’s what happened, how rules and security measures about drop boxes vary across the country, and how election conspiracy theories have undermined confidence in their use.
Police said incendiary devices started the fires in the drop boxes in Portland and Vancouver. Authorities said evidence showed the fires were connected and that they also are related to an Oct. 8 incident when an incendiary device was placed at a different drop box in Vancouver.
Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said his office was planning to contact the three voters whose ballots were damaged in Portland to help them get replacements.
In Vancouver, 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. Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said the box was last emptied at 11 a.m. Saturday. Voters who dropped their ballots there afterward are being urged to contact the office to get a new one.
The office will be increasing how frequently it collects ballots and changing collection times to the evening to keep ballot boxes from remaining full overnight when vandalism is more likely to occur.
Kimsey described the suspected arson as « a direct attack on democracy.”
Drop boxes have been used for years in states such as Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington, where ballots are mailed to all registered voters.
