Ballot Box Fires - PNW

[wawa]

apnews.com/article/vote-ballot-drop-box-democracy-fire-f66c52f774955106fb9e7c8172825cff

Incendiary devices were set off Monday at two ballot drop boxes — one in Portland and another in nearby Vancouver, Washington — destroying hundreds of ballots in what one official called a “direct attack on democracy” about a week before a heated Election Day.
.....
The ballot box in Vancouver also had a fire suppression system inside, but that failed to prevent hundreds of ballots from burning, said Greg Kimsey, the longtime elected auditor in Clark County, Washington, which includes Vancouver. He urged voters who dropped their ballots in the transit center box after 11 a.m. Saturday to contact his office for a replacement ballot.

Spread the word if that's local to you!  
Also for anybody else having a sudden moment of geographic doubt, there are two Vancouvers.  One of them in WA, the other is Canada.  This should not be allowed and is confusing.

As for the actual topic at hand...this shit has happened before?  I mean, it had to have, right otherwise why are these boxes fitted with fire suppression systems?  But like...fuuuuuck this.  I hate living in unprecedented times. 

[fernweh]

Don’t let the republicans know there is a Vancouver WA - they will accuse democrats of letting Canadians vote.

I hope there are cameras near by and they catch whoever did this, it’s absolutely atrocious.

[penguingrrl]

Horrifying.

[laladypoet]

it sounds like some people watched Succession and said, "this is the way"

[rachers]

This is likely a dumb question but how do they account for the votes that were destroyed?

[picksthemusic]

I put it in the early voting thread yesterday - here is the article from the Seattle Times:

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/incendiary-device-damages-hundreds-of-ballots-in-vancouver-wa-drop-box/

[picksthemusic]

Oct 29, 2024 10:48:55 GMT -5 rachers said:

This is likely a dumb question but how do they account for the votes that were destroyed?

WA tracks mail-in ballots electronically so you can see if it was received/counted.

Also, the rep from that County who is defending her position (and likely why this happened, because the R opponent is a POS), announced how to request a replacement ballot. They know when it was last emptied, so they can tell folks who used that box during the time the fire was set to request new ones.

gluesenkampperez.house.gov/posts/gluesenkamp-perez-statement-on-fire-set-to-vancouver-ballot-drop-box

[Velar Fricative]

Oct 29, 2024 10:48:55 GMT -5 rachers said:

This is likely a dumb question but how do they account for the votes that were destroyed?

At least in some places, you can track your ballot online. If something like this happens officials will offer instructions on what to do if your ballot hasn’t been counted.

[rachers]

Oh okay, that’s a relief! Thank yall.

[ellipses84]

Vancouver, WA is directly across the river/ bridge from Portland OR. They recently renovated the waterfront with a new walkway park, restaurants, and lots of wine tasting rooms. I met up with some college friends there over the summer and it was lovely, FYI 💜

As for the mail-in ballot drop boxes, they have a pretty good tracking system since all the west coast states have mail-in ballots. They will salvage every piece they can and try to contact anybody that was possibly impacted. Anyone who dropped off at those locations can check their ballot status to see if they were confirmed. We’ve had issues with our USPS boxes being set on fire in general and the ones outside my local post office get locked when the post office is closed which is a huge PITA! At least one of the ballot drop boxes in WA had a fire suppression system in it that worked and saved a lot of ballots from fire, so it seems like many of them might and it’s probably safer to use the ballot drop boxes. At this point, I’ve heard it’s better to use the drop boxes rather than risk your ballot being delayed in the mail and you can use a location that is more secure. The one outside my library has video cameras and usually a security guard.

[picksthemusic]

FWIW, the ballot drop box at the county registrar is monitored by cameras 24/7 and a security guard during the day. At least that's what DH said when he dropped off our ballots.

[bugandbibs]

So, this is my county and the latest ballot box was very close to my work. Police have released photos of the suspected car and driver to the public. According to the police all 3 ballot box bombs/fires are linked. It sucks that the fire suppression system failed. They now have people monitoring the boxes essentially 24/7 at this point. The drop box I typically use in on school property and does have multiple cameras that would catch a suspect if they drove onto school property.

My county is formally very red and recently purple in a blue state. The election is very intense as the GOP representative candidate is super MAGA and has spent the last few years claiming he actually won his last race and it was stolen from him via fraud. I 100% trust the ballot boxes and do track our ballots just in case.