Police say the bombings of ballot boxes in Oregon and Washington are linked

We’re entering the final week of what has been one of the biggest yet incomprehensible and cruel presidential election in modern political history, a series of arson attacks at polling places in the Pacific Northwest left local and federal police scrambling to find the culprit. Perhaps this is another side effect of what election security experts are talking about heightened “threat environment”is a fancy term that seems to be short for: Americans are losing their damn minds, and it’s getting pretty confusing.

On Monday morning, someone drove up to a ballot box in Portland, Oregon, and attached the “ignition device” on your side Then they left. Shortly thereafter, around 3:30 a.m., Portland police responded to a report of a fire nearby and found the data collection box on fire. In less than an hour a similar incident happened in the nearby city of Vancouver, Washington, where police found another storage box. Again, a “suspicious device” was found on the ground nearby.

The police also suspect that the incidents are related to another arsonwhich took place in Vancouver almost three weeks ago, on October 8. In this case, the police were again called to extinguish the fire at the ballot box. For safety reasons, a nearby homeless shelter had to be evacuated.

Local outlet This is reported by KGW that authorities believe the Vancouver fires destroyed “hundreds” of ballots. The fire in Portland destroyed only three. Local outlet KGW reports that the FBI is currently working with local police to investigate the three incidents.

“We don’t know the motive for these actions,” Portland Police Bureau Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan said. in a press release. “We know that such actions are targeted and deliberate, and we are concerned that these deliberate actions are trying to influence the election process. We want to stop this behavior.”

“We take the safety of our election workers seriously and will not tolerate threats or acts of violence intended to undermine the democratic process,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in another statement. press release. “I strongly condemn any act of terrorism aimed at disrupting a legitimate and fair election in Washington State. Despite this incident, I have full confidence in the ability of our county elections official to keep elections in Washington safe for all voters.”

The good news is that police appear to have located the vehicle they believe was involved in the arson. The footage from the security footage of the “suspicious vehicle” was published to the public Monday. The vehicle is described as a “2001-2004 black or dark colored Volvo S-60.” Police said the vehicle did not appear to have a front license plate, but it did have a rear license plate that authorities were unable to decipher.

Vancouver authorities have urged anyone who believes their ballots were destroyed in Monday’s fire to contact the city’s elections office (if this happens to you, you can call 564-397-2345 or email (email protected) ). Portland residents who are concerned that it may have been affected can call 503-988-6826. Even more conveniently, many governments allow voters to see if their vote was received by their local government. In the case of Washington, voters can visit votewa.gov to track their return status. This is reported by KGW: “If the returned ballot is not marked “received,” voters may print a replacement ballot or visit the elections office located at 1408 Franklin Street in downtown Vancouver to pick up a replacement ballot at the Secretary of State’s office.”