Washington state ballots damaged in suspected arson, police say

By Moira Warburton, Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A Washington state ballot box used to collect early votes ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. election was set on fire on Monday in a suspected arson, which the FBI was investigating, local police said.

Footage from local news outlet KATU showed smoke pouring out of a Vancouver, Washington, ballot box with multiple ballots appearing to be in flames. The box had not been emptied since 8 a.m. (1200 GMT) on Sunday local time and hundreds of ballots were destroyed, the station said, citing local officials.

The Vancouver Police Department said it responded to an arson attack at 4 a.m. PDT (1100 GMT) on Monday and removed a "suspicious device" located next to the ballot box.

The Washington secretary of state's office urged voters to check the status of their ballots online and to request a replacement if theirs was unaccounted for.

"I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state," Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a statement. "Despite this incident, I have complete confidence in our county elections officials’ ability to keep Washington’s elections safe and secure for all voters."

The box was located in the state's 3rd District, the site of one of the most competitive U.S. House of Representatives races, featuring Democratic Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent.

Gluesenkamp Perez called for overnight law enforcement monitoring of ballot boxes in the district, saying that this was the second such event to occur in Vancouver within a month.

Police responded to another 4 a.m. fire at a ballot box on Oct. 8, although that one did not damage any ballots.

The 36-year-old car mechanic won her race in 2022 by fewer than 3,000 votes.

The incident is the latest in a stream of attacks on ballot boxes.

Police in Portland, Oregon, responded to a similar fire started by an incendiary device in a ballot box on Monday morning. Multnomah County's election director said in a statement that only three ballots were damaged in that fire, due to fire suppressant inside the box, and that those voters will be contacted to fill out replacement ballots.

In Phoenix, a man was arrested after a mailbox there was set ablaze on Thursday. About 20 ballots were destroyed, according to local media reports.

(Reporting by Moira Warburton and Andrew Goudsward in WashingtonEditing by Scott Malone, Bill Berkrot and Matthew Lewis)