Ballot box arson underlines concern campaign conspiracy theories make them targets | News, Sports, Work

ATLANTA (AP) — Two ballot boxes in the Pacific Northwest were damaged in a suspected arson attack just over a week before Election Day, destroying hundreds of ballots at one location in Vancouver, Washington.

Elsewhere, in nearby Portland, Oregon, the fire suppression system appears to have worked to contain the fire and limited the number of damaged ballots to three. Law enforcement officers are reviewing surveillance footage, trying to identify the culprits.

Here’s what happened, how drop box regulations and security measures vary across the country, and how election conspiracy theories have undermined confidence in their use.

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

Fires broke out in unloading bays in Portland and Vancouver, police said. Authorities said evidence suggests the fires were connected and related to an Oct. 8 incident in which an incendiary device was placed in another box in Vancouver.

Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said his office plans to contact the three voters whose ballots were damaged in Portland to help them get replacements.

In Vancouver, hundreds of ballots were lost in a ballot box at the Fisher Landing Transit Center when the ballot box’s fire suppression system malfunctioned. Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said the box was last emptied at 11 a.m. Saturday. Voters who have dropped their ballots are asked to contact the bureau to get a new one.

The office will increase the frequency of ballot collection and change the collection time to the evening so that ballot boxes are not left full overnight, when vandalism is more likely.

Kimsey described the suspected arsonist as “a direct attack on democracy.”

WHEN AND WHERE CAN DROP BOXES BE USED?

States such as Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington have for years used drop-box ballots, where ballots are mailed to all registered voters.

They became popular in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as election authorities sought options for voters who wanted to avoid crowded polling stations or worried about mail delays.

A total of 27 states and the District of Columbia allow drop-off ballots, according to data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Six others have no specific law but allow local communities to use them.

Placement may vary. In some communities, they are located in public buildings and are only available during business hours. Elsewhere, they are outside and accessible at all hours, usually with CCTV or someone watching.

Sporadic problems have occurred over the years.

In 2020, several crates were hit by vehicles and one in Massachusetts was damaged by arson. In this case, most ballots were legible enough for voters to be identified and replacements sent. In 2020, a drop box was also set on fire in Los Angeles County.

HOW SHOULD THEY BE PROVIDED?

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency advises state and local election officials to place drop boxes in convenient high-traffic locations familiar to voters, such as libraries and community centers.

If the boxes are unmanned, they must be secured and locked at all times, located in well-lit areas and monitored by video surveillance cameras, the instructions say. Many are forced to the ground, monitored with cameras, or locked up in public buildings during business hours where they can be monitored.

HOW HAVE CONSPIRACY THEORIES TAKEN CARE OF SUPPLEMENTS?

Over the past four years, ballot boxes have been the focus of right-wing conspiracy theories falsely claiming they are responsible for massive fraud in the 2020 election.

The debunked film titled “2000 mules” boosted the claims by exposing millions to the baseless theory that the ballot-gathering operation consisted of placing fake ballots in ballot boxes in the dark of night.

An Associated Press survey of state election officials found no widespread problems with drop boxes in 2020.

Paranoia about the boxes continued until the 2022 midterms, when armed individuals began showing up in Arizona to monitor them and a federal judge banned them. This year, the conservative group True the Vote launched a website that hosts live state polls.

In Montana, home to a key U.S. Senate race, Republicans recently seized on the unsubstantiated claim of ballot tampering to cash in on doubts about the election process.

HOW DID THE STATES RESPOND AFTER THE 2020 ELECTIONS?

Republican lawmakers in several states have sought to tighten rules on mail-in voting after the 2020 election, and much of their focus has been on the use of ballot boxes.

Since then, six states have banned them: Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and South Dakota, according to research by the Voting Rights Lab, which advocates for increased access to voting.

Other states have restricted their use. That includes Ohio and Iowa, which now allow just one drop box per county, according to data from the Brennan Center for Justice.

Fulton County, Georgia, which includes Atlanta and has more than 1 million residents, has 10 ballot boxes available for this year’s presidential election. That’s down from 38 four years ago under the pandemic-induced emergency. It’s the result of an election review by Georgia Republicans in response to former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

A total of 12 states ban ballot boxes or do not list them as an approved ballot return method, according to data compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Five other states have no state law and do not use drop boxes.

Wisconsin, one of the battlegrounds for this year’s presidential election, has been used for years, but since 2020, their support has split along ideological lines. In Wausau, the conservative mayor removed the city’s only drop box, an action that is being investigated by the state Department of Justice. The box was returned and is in use.

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Swenson reported from New York.