During the early voting period leading up to Election Day, several ballot boxes in Washington state and Oregon have been set on fire. Experts say that an incendiary device was dropped into the respective ballot boxes, and from there detonated within the boxes in order to destroy the ballots.
The ballot box in Washington sustained significant fire damage with many of the ballots being unusable. The ballot box in Oregon had a fire suppression device within, leaving only three ballots seriously damaged. Authorities believe that the burnings are related to each other based on the incendiary devices used, and the close proximity of the two incidents.
Both boxes burned the same day, within 15 miles of each other, authorities also believe the burnings are connected to another box fire that happened in Washington on Oct. 8. All three incendiary devices had “Free Gaza” on them, although it is unclear whether or not the perpetrators are connected to Palestine, or using it as a cover for violence.
Officials are advising people to reach out and request another ballot if they think their ballot may have been damaged. Of the three that burned in Oregon, officials will be reaching out to each of the ballot owners to inform them of the damage. According to CNN, a man and his wife who were informed their ballots had burned requested new ballots, and instead of electing to put them in another box, chose a different method of delivering the ballots. Regardless of the threat to ballot boxes, officials continued to encourage people to vote.
Washington and Oregon are highly dependent on mail-in voting because a very small amount of the population votes in-person. The act of burning ballot boxes could have larger implications for not just the people of Washington and Oregon, but the country as a whole. If boxes are being burned, then more people might be deterred from voting via this way in the future. Although the election has been called in former President Donald Trump’s favor, it will take time to see if burning ballots had any influence on his victory.
rrodri13@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @TheInsiderPaper, X
