Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey reported that approximately 475 damaged ballots were recovered from a burned ballot box on Monday in southwest Washington. Workers will begin on Wednesday to seek voter information from the damaged ballots to contact them and provide a new ballot. Despite the damage, Kimsey indicated that they believe they can extract the necessary information from the ballots.
In addition to the damaged ballots, an unknown number of ballots were destroyed by the fire, according to Kimsey. Incendiary devices also caused damage to another box in Portland, Oregon. Federal, state, and local authorities considered these acts as a direct attack on democracy.
According to authorities, enough material from the incendiary devices was recovered to link Monday's fires to a previous incident that occurred on October 8 in Vancouver. Federal prosecutor Tessa M. Gorman and the special agent in charge of the FBI's field office in Seattle, Greg Austin, assured that they are working together to investigate the fires and hold those involved accountable.
So far, no arrests have been made related to these incidents. The fire in the Portland box was quickly extinguished thanks to a sprinkler system and the intervention of a nearby security guard. The box in Vancouver also had a similar system; however, hundreds of ballots were damaged.
Greg Kimsey urged voters who dropped off their ballots in the transit center box after a certain time to contact his office for a replacement ballot. Vancouver is the largest city in Washington's 3rd legislative district, where a tight contest is expected between Democratic representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent.
In light of these incidents, increased frequency in ballot collection and changes in hours have been announced to prevent boxes from being full overnight. Officials from other counties in Washington have also announced similar measures.
The incendiary devices were attached to the outside of the boxes, and surveillance cameras captured an image of a Volvo near the Portland box shortly before the fire was discovered inside, according to Portland police spokesman Mike Benner.
