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Hundreds of ballots burned in Vancouver, Washington

Posted on by Josh L
Hundreds of ballots burned in Vancouver, Washington

Top line

Hundreds of ballots were destroyed early Monday morning after a ballot box caught fire in Vancouver, Washington, Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey confirmed to Forbes on Monday, marking the second such incident in the area.

Key facts

According to local residents, a ballot box in a public transport center was set on fire after someone inserted an incendiary device into the outside of the box, which ignited the flames. Lysycha stationalthough Kimsey said he could not comment on what started the fire.

Ballots had not been retrieved from the box since Saturday morning, and Kimsey said “hundreds” had been destroyed.

Anyone who dropped off a ballot at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center after 11 a.m. Saturday can contact the Clark County Elections Office to get a replacement. Kimsey said his office will change its schedule for receiving ballots in response to the incident.

The Vancouver Police Department plans to issue a press release with more information later Monday.

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Tangent

This is not the first fact that a ballot box has been set on fire this election season. In a similar incident, a suspicious device was reported to have damaged a ballot box early Monday morning in Southeast Portland, Oregon, just miles from Vancouver, Washington. The fire in the pit was reported around 3:30 am local news but no information was yet available on how many, if any, ballots were damaged. Kimsey said he could not comment on whether the two fires were related. A man was arrested in Phoenix on Thursday after allegedly arson to a United States Postal Service mailbox that contained several early voting ballots, though police said his motive was not political.

Key background

A tight race for Congress continues in a Washington state district where a ballot box was set on fire on Monday. In Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, Republican Joe Kent is running to unseat Democratic Congresswoman Marie Glusenkamp Perez in a rematch between Kent and Glusenkamp Perez in a tight 2022 race. On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson visited the county to campaign for Kent, and said “My presence here shows you how important this neighborhood is to all of America.”

Further reading

KATUFlaming ballots pulled from Vancouver’s smoking urn; hundreds of lost ballotshttps://www.kptv.comHundreds of ballots have been damaged after a drop box was set on fire in Vancouver, officials say
ColombianSpeaker Mike Johnson is running for Joe Kent’s second term in Clark County