In a span of a week, fires have destroyed dropoff ballot boxes in Portland, OR, Phoenix, AZ, and Vancouver, WA.
On Monday morning, heavy smoke emerged from a dropoff ballot box in Vancouver, WA.
It just happened a few hours ago, so we don’t have much information to share. From KATU:
Multiple police units were in the area, and the ballot box was cordoned off by police tape as it continued to smoke.Around 6:30 a.m., KATU captured footage of first responders releasing a pile of actively burning ballots onto the ground, which continued to smoulder and smoke heavily even after the flames were put out.The Clark County auditor told us that the last ballot pickup at that location was 8 a.m. Sunday. Hundreds of ballots were inside at the time of the burning, and KATU was told there are maybe only a few that can be saved.
Police arrested a person in connection with a burning mailbox that contained many mailed-in ballots in Phoenix, AZ, “for an outstanding and unrelated arrest warrant.” From USA Today:
Dieter Klofkorn, 35, is accused of igniting a fire in a mailbox at a U.S. Postal Office in the area of 7th Avenue and Indian School Road around 1 a.m., Phoenix police said in a news release.The Phoenix Fire Department’s Arson Investigation Taskforce was contacted and assumed the investigation, according to police. The scene was processed, including finding nearby surveillance footage.Phoenix Fire Capt. Rob McDade confirmed to NBC News and AZFamily that 20 electoral ballots were damaged, along with additional mail.
Klofhorn told police “that he ‘wanted to be arrested and that his actions were not politically motivated and not related to anything involving the upcoming election.'”
Portland police began an investigation after someone set off an incendiary device in a dropoff ballot box.
On Oc. 28, at approximately 3:30 a.m., officers were sent to reports of a fire at a ballot box located in the 1000 block of Southeast Morrison Street.By the time officers arrived, security personnel in the area had already extinguished the fire.Investigators say an incendiary device had been placed inside the ballot box, igniting the fire.The Portland Police Bureau’s Explosive Disposal Unit responded to the scene and successfully cleared the device.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY