Ballot boxes set on fire in Portland and neighboring city of Vancouver

( Post Millennial )

Ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon and the neighboring city of Vancouver, Washington were set ablaze in the early hours of Monday morning, coming just over a week before the presidential election.

The Portland ballot box was located in the 1000 block of Southeast Morrison Street, with officers responding to reports of the fire at around 3:30 am Monday. By the time officers arrived, security personnel working in the area had extinguished the fire, the Portland Police Bureau said in a press release.

Officers determined that an incendiary device had been placed inside the ballot box to set the fire. The bureau’s Explosive Disposal Unit cleared the device. The status of the ballots inside the box is currently unknown.

At around 6 am, police responded to the area of Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver for a separate burning ballot box. According to KATU 2, first responders released a pile of burning ballots onto the ground from the box, which continued to smolder.

The Clark County elections auditor told the outlet that the last ballot pickup from the box was at 8 am on Sunday, and that hundreds of ballots were inside the box at the time of the fire. The auditor said that few of the ballots may be able to be saved. Those who placed their ballot in the Vancouver box after 11 am on Saturday are urged to contact the Election Auditor’s Office as soon as possible for a new ballot.

Clark County auditor Greg Kimsey told Oregonlive, "It appears that a device was attached to the outside of the ballot drop box that resulted in the ballots being ignited." He said that there was likely "hundreds" of ballots destroyed.

The Vancouver box is in Washington's Third Congressional District, the location of a closely watched race between incumbent Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and GOP challenger Joe Kent. A poll from the beginning of October found that Perez and Kent were tied at 46 percent, with 8 percent of voters being undecided.