When first responders showed up to the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver, Washington this morning, they saw smoke coming out of a drop-off ballot box. When they managed to break into the box, they found several ballots burnt to a crisp, with many votes unidentifiable and unsalvageable.
Local reporters swiftly flew to the scene only to find a pile of burning ballots on the ground. The incident comes just hours after a similar arson event in Portland, where yet another ballot box was set on fire.
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According to the Clark country auditor, the last pickup occurred Saturday night, meaning the damage done this morning could impact hundreds of cast ballots. While the situation has voter interference written all over it, we still don’t have details as to how this happened and who’s to blame.
In addition to the ballot box arsons in Portland and Washington, reports have also come in recently concerning an arson incident in Phoenix, Arizona, where a USPS mailbox containing mail-in ballots were posted.
To make matters worse, the Clark County ballot box fire is interfering with not only the Presidential election, but the extremely close House race between Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican Joe Kent.
The recent spurt of arson has folks wondering whether voting in person is the only safe way to make sure their votes get counted.
There is one hopeful note in all of this: if Clark County voters are worried about their ballot getting torched, they can check the status and request a new emergency ballot.
Still, common sense is telling us to prepare for more of this behavior before voting day. Figures on the right have been loudly advocating for voter interference since the race began in earnest.
More to follow as this story develops.
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