Incendiary devices that burned ballot boxes carried ‘Liberate Gaza’ messages, AP source says

WASHINGTON – Incendiary devices found at the site of ballot box fires in Portland, Oregon, and nearby Vancouver, Washington, were marked this week with the message “Liberate Gaza,” a law enforcement official said.

A third device placed at another Vancouver mailbox earlier this month also contained the words “Free Palestine” in addition to “Free Gaza,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to review an ongoing issue to discuss. research.

Investigators are trying to identify the person responsible and the motive for the suspected arsons, in which hundreds of ballots were destroyed at one Vancouver location on Monday when the mailbox’s fire suppression system failed to work as intended. Authorities are trying to determine whether the person who left the devices actually had pro-Palestinian views or used the message to sow confusion, the official said.

Surveillance footage captured a Volvo pulling up to a mailbox in Portland just before nearby security personnel discovered a fire in the box Monday, said Mike Benner, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau.

The early morning fire at the Portland drop box was quickly extinguished thanks to a fire suppression system in the box and a nearby security guard, police said. Only three of the ballots inside were damaged.

The Vancouver ballot box that burned also had a fire suppression system, but it did not prevent hundreds of ballots from being scorched, said Greg Kimsey, a longtime elected auditor in Clark County, Washington, which includes Vancouver. Kimsey said Tuesday that the exact number of ballots destroyed was not known and that approximately 475 damaged ballots had been removed from the box.

Elections staff on Wednesday planned to search the damaged ballots for information about who cast them, hoping those voters can get replacement ballots. Kimsey urged voters who left their ballots in the transit center box between 11 a.m. Saturday and early Monday to contact his office for a replacement ballot.

Authorities said at a news conference in Portland on Monday that enough material from the firebombings had been recovered to show that the two fires were connected — and that they were connected to an Oct. 8 firebombing of another polling place in Vancouver. No ballots were damaged in that incident.

Voters in Washington are encouraged to check the status of their ballots at www.votewa.gov to track their return status. If a returned ballot is not marked “received,” voters can print a replacement ballot or go to their local elections department for a replacement ballot, the secretary of state’s office said.