Authorities say a fire at a mailbox in Phoenix was not politically motivated

On October 24, Phoenix police arrested a man in connection with a A fire at a central Phoenix mailbox damaged vote-by-mail ballots. According to the police, a 35-year-old man was charged with arson.

Was it a politically motivated action related to the elections? The authorities say no.

The collection box was at the U.S. Post Office on Seventh Avenue near Indian School Road, according to the Phoenix Fire Department. According to the police, the fire broke out around 12:40 on October 24.

Firefighters forced open the box and extinguished the fire, the spokesman of the department said. According to them, the number of damaged ballots is unknown.

The incident was different from what happened on October 28 in Portland and nearby Vancouver, Washington two urns were set on fire by incendiary devicesdestroying hundreds of ballots, the Associated Press reports.

Ballot attacks in Oregon and Washington disrupted the election process and were “a direct attack on democracy,” one official said.

The Phoenix incident was not politically motivated or election-related, Phoenix police said. The man set the fire because he wanted to be arrested, the police said.

Police said the man was initially taken into custody on an outstanding warrant. He was released from prison in June after serving a six-month sentence in February 2023 for a drug offense, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.

Maricopa County takes aim at safety concerns

Concern for the safety of voters and vote counting by election officials prompted Maricopa County officials to deploy heightened security measures as Election Day approaches.

There have been no apparent threats to voters, and Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner said he is confident he has the staff and resources needed to keep voters and election officials safe during a contentious presidential cycle.

“My resources and equipment are assembled and ready to go,” Skinner said. “It’s very fluid. Depending on the environment and conditions, we will ensure that there is a level of security.

“There is no place in the policy or in this process where criminal activity is allowed,” Skinner said. “There is zero tolerance.”

Cowley Phillips is a reporter for The Arizona Republic who focuses on election misinformation. This work was made possible by a grant from the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin. Contact him at [email protected].