Federal officials have been warning that in recent months, some social media users have been encouraging sabotage of ballot drop boxes. "It's a direct attack on democracy," said one local official.

In the final stretch before Election Day, ballots have been set on fire and damaged in two ballot drop boxes and a Postal Service mailbox in three states. Federal officials have warned that in recent months, some social media users have encouraged sabotage of ballot drop boxes.

Early on Monday morning in Oregon, Portland police responded to a fire they say was started by “an incendiary device” inside a ballot drop box. Oregon’s Multnomah County Elections Division said in a statement that three ballots were damaged. “Fire suppressant inside the ballot box protected virtually all ballots,” the statement read.

Hours later, another drop box was set on fire in nearby Vancouver, Washington, where officials say “hundreds” of ballots were badly damaged when that box’s fire suppression system failed to work.

  • 1800doctorb@lemmy.world
    73·
    1 month ago

    Aggregating some information in this comment based on what I’ve read throughout the internet.

    1. Authorities have identified the vehicle of the one in Oregon (and likely Washington) and probably know who’s behind it at this point. AP News
    2. Authorities have arrested the person responsible for the ballot fires in Phoenix ABC Phoenix
    3. There was a conversation on Truth Social from a user named Elwoodblues50 that suggested doing just this. I have no idea how coordinated it was, but it definitely sounds like something that has been going around right wing circles for a bit. sorry Reddit link
    4. These ballot boxes have measures to protect the ballots in the case of fire. One of the ballot boxes had up to 100 ballots destroyed, the others were in the single digits.
    5. Oregon and Washington both have websites that allow you to check the status of your ballot. If you know anyone in who may have been impacted by this, have them check the websites and request a new ballot if theirs wasn’t accepted. Oregon. Washington