The FBI, alongside local and state law enforcement, is investigating two incidents of ballot drop boxes catching fire on Monday in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington.
Breaking: FBI Portland statement regarding response to incidents in Vancouver, Wa, and Portland today. @vancouverpdusa @portlandpolice pic.twitter.com/tCely668te
— FBI Portland (@FBIPortland) October 28, 2024
Police announced on Monday that enough materials were collected from the crime scenes to reach the conclusion that the two fires are connected.
Law enforcement also said that a “suspected vehicle” was identified as part of their investigation into the incidents.
Surveillance images captured a Volvo stopping at a drop box in Portland, moments before security personnel discovered the fire inside the ballot box, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner said at a news conference Monday.
While the fire damaged only three of the ballots inside the box in Portland, hundreds of ballots were destroyed in the Vancouver fire, officials said.
The Clark County Elections ballot drop box at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center was lit on fire this morning. Clark Co. Auditor Greg Kimsey says hundreds of ballots were inside at the time, the last pickup being 11AM Saturday. Full story here https://t.co/sYkz8ydEqH @KATUNews pic.twitter.com/a8vw0QXXoY
— Evan Bell (@evanbellKATU) October 28, 2024
“We take the safety of our election workers seriously and will not tolerate threats or acts of violence that seek to undermine the democratic process,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a statement in response to the suspected arson incident. “I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state. Despite this incident, I have complete confidence in our county elections official’s ability to keep Washington’s elections safe and secure for all voters.”
The Monday ballot drop box fires come as election administrators across the country are on pins and needles, warning about the potential for threats and violence against election administration and poll workers as we get closer to Election Day. Experts and state election officials have been warning for months that ballot drop boxes specifically might be an area of fixation for bad actors and domestic extremists after thoroughly debunked conspiracy theories about ballot “mules” caught on among far-right extremists and supporters of Donald Trump during the 2020 election.
In fact, U.S. intelligence officials have been quietly issuing warnings to government agencies over the past couple of months about a rising threat of extremist violence tied to the 2024 presidential election — specifically raising the alarm about the potential for attacks on ballot drop boxes.
Analysts at the Department of Homeland Security warned of a “heightened risk” of extremists carrying out attacks, including plots to destroy bins full of paper ballots and other “lone wolf” attacks against election facilities throughout the country, according to copies of a series of reports dated between July and September obtained by Wired.
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security even issued a public warning about its concerns that domestic extremists and lone wolf actors may target every level of election administration this fall, including ballot drop boxes.
Julie Farnam, who was the assistant director of the Intelligence and Interagency Coordination Division of the U.S. Capitol Police until May 2023 — and issued early warnings about the potential for an attack on Congress ahead of January 6 — told TPM in a piece published Monday that she believes “lone wolf” attacks targeting lower-level candidates and election infrastructure pose the “highest risk” in the current climate.
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