Early ballots burned in suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon | US elections 2024

Hundreds of early ballots for the US presidential election were burned in two suspected attacks in Washington and Oregon, raising tensions ahead of next Tuesday's crucial election campaign.

According to the Associated Press, police said Monday that the fires in the two states are suspected to be related and that an involved vehicle had been identified.

According to local media, firefighters went to the scene after smoke was seen coming from a ballot box in the city of Vancouver, Washington, at 6:30 a.m. Monday.

KATU, a local television station, reported capturing footage of emergency responders throwing a stack of burning ballots onto the site. The ballots continued to smolder after the flames were extinguished.

Hundreds of ballots were believed to have been inside when smoke billowed from the box, which was last emptied at 8am on Sunday. KATU reported that few of the ballots cast there afterward were saved.

The auditor for Clark County, the local agency that manages the drop boxes, said voters who voted after 11 a.m. could request new ballots through a link on the county's election website.

“There is absolutely no place in our democracy for political violence or interference against our fellow citizens, poll workers or election infrastructure… Our right to vote must be protected at all costs.” We must not give in to intimidation and must continue to defend ourselves against unpatriotic acts like these “said local Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez.

She called for police officers to be stationed at all ballot boxes in the county overnight until Election Day, saying, “Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence.”

The fire was reported following a similar incident in nearby Portland, Oregon, where police said an incendiary device was set off in a ballot box near a building housing the Multnomah County elections department.

Security forces extinguished the fire before police arrived. The device was deactivated and removed by the local bomb squad.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned against destroying ballot boxes in a September memo obtained by Property of the People, a public records monitoring group. The agency said in an intelligence report that election infrastructure is seen as an “attractive target for some domestic violent extremists,” with mailboxes a “soft target” because they are easier to access.

Social media posters on forums frequented by extremists shared ideas for targeted mailboxes, the agency said, including “road flares, fireworks, petroleum fuel, linseed oil and white phosphorus, cement or expanding foam, bleach or other chemicals, and agricultural machinery.” “. . Other methods could include posting fake signs to indicate that a mailbox is out of service, setting up fake mailboxes, or placing “timed explosive charges” in mailboxes. They also discussed ways to prevent detection by law enforcement.

“Damaged ballot boxes could temporarily impact voting options and accessibility and discourage voters from casting their ballots if there are safety concerns in the vicinity of a targeted or damaged ballot box,” DHS wrote in the intelligence briefing. “Successful destruction of the ballot box could inspire others with related complaints to take similar action.”

The incidents came days after a U.S. Postal Service mailbox containing a small number of ballots was set on fire in Phoenix, Arizona, last Thursday.

The police arrested a 35-year-old man who is said to have confessed to the crime while in custody. They also said he told them that his actions were not politically motivated and that he committed the act with the intention of getting himself arrested.

The Guardian has reported that far-right anti-voter groups supporting Donald Trump have been monitoring ballot drop boxes as part of their activities in the run-up to next week's election, as officials brace for disruptions and challenges to vote counts.