Hundreds Of Washington State Ballots Destroyed In Drop Box Fire
by Mary Whitfill Roeloffs · ForbesTopline
Hundreds of election ballots were destroyed early Monday morning after a ballot box caught fire in the Washington state city of Vancouver, Clark County Elections Auditor Greg Kimsey confirmed to Forbes on Monday—the second incident of its kind in the area.
Key Facts
A ballot box at a public transit center was set on fire after someone stuck an incendiary device to the outside of the box that sparked the flames, according to the local Fox station, though Kimsey said he could not comment on what started the fire.
Ballots had not been picked up from the box since Saturday morning, and Kimsey said “hundreds” were destroyed.
Anyone who dropped their ballot in the box at Fisher's Landing Transit Center after 11 a.m. Saturday can contact Clark County Elections for a replacement.Kimsey said his office will be modifying its ballot retrieval schedule in response to the incident.
The Vancouver Police Department plans to issue a press release with more information later Monday.
Tangent
This is not the first ballot box fire to be reported this election season. In a similar incident, a suspicious device was reported to have damaged a ballot box early Monday in southeast Portland, Oregon—just miles from Vancouver, Washington. A fire in the box was reported at about 3:30 a.m., according to local news outlets, but there was no information yet available as to how many, if any, ballots were damaged. Kimsey said he could not speak to if the two fires were related. A man was arrested in Phoenix Thursday after allegedly setting fire to a United States Postal Service mailbox that had several early voting ballots inside, though police said his motives were not political.
Key Background
There is a tight congressional race in the Washington state district in which the ballot box fire was reported Monday. In Washington's 3rd Congressional District, Republican candidate Joe Kent is running to unseat Democratic incumbent Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a rematch of Kent and Gluesenkamp Perez’s tight 2022 race. On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., visited the district to campaign for Kent, and said “My presence here shows you how important this district is to all of America."