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A burned ballot box in Portland, Oregon. (Credit: Portland Police Bureau)

PORTLAND, ore., – Police in Oregon and Washington are investigating ballot boxes that were set on fire.

Portland Police Bureau He said Monday morning officers responded to reports of a fire at a ballot box in the 1000 block of Southeast Morrison Street.

Security guards extinguished the fire until police teams arrived.

Authorities said an incendiary device was placed inside the chest before the fire broke out. Police teams arrived at the scene and destroyed the explosive material.

The fire damaged three ballot papers inside.

Police in Vancouver, Washington, are also investigating a ballot box that was set on fire Monday morning. The fire destroyed hundreds of ballots. Police said the devices were attached to the outside of the boxes.

The fire was started at the C-TRAN Park & ​​Ride at Fisher’s Landing Transit Center.

Authorities said at a news conference in Portland that enough material had been collected from the incendiary devices to show that Monday’s two fires were linked, and that they were also linked to an Oct. 8 incident in which an incendiary device was planted at a different ballot box. PO box in Vancouver.

A “suspicious vehicle” has been identified in connection with crimes in Oregon and Washington, police said Monday. Surveillance footage captured a Volvo stopping at a delivery box in Portland, Oregon, just before nearby security personnel noticed a fire inside the box on Monday, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner said at a news conference.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Greg Kimsey, the longtime elected supervisor in Clark County, Washington, which includes Vancouver. “This is a direct attack on democracy.”

Ballot boxes in Washington and Oregon both have fire suppression systems designed to activate when the temperature inside reaches a certain point and coat the inside of the ballots with fire-extinguishing powder.

The system appeared to be working at the Portland delivery box, and security guards were nearby to help extinguish the fire. Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said the county contracts with private security guards to have “roving patrols” that roam the county 24 hours a day and “keep watch” on all distribution boxes.

He said one of the guards was at the district election office, heard a sound similar to an explosion, possibly the fire extinguishing system being activated, and called the police.

For unknown reasons, the system failed to prevent hundreds of ballots from being destroyed in Vancouver, just across the Columbia River from Portland.

The fires follow a similar incident in Arizona last week.

According to FOX 10 Phoenix’s news; An arrest was made after a U.S. Postal Service mailbox in Phoenix was set on fire last Thursday, damaging more than a dozen ballots.

RELATING TO: Ballots damaged after USPS mailbox burned in Phoenix; the suspect was arrested

The fire occurred just before 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 24 in front of a post office near 7th Street and Indian School Road.

Phoenix Fire Department crews arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames. Twenty election ballots and other pieces of mail were damaged in the fire.

“The Postal Inspector recovered damaged ballots and mail,” said Phoenix Fire Capt. Rob McDade. “The Phoenix Fire Investigations Task Force, which includes Phoenix Police detectives and Phoenix Fire investigators, is working with U.S. Postal Inspectors.”

The FBI said in a statement that it is coordinating with federal, state and local partners to actively investigate the two incidents. Anyone with information is asked to contact the nearest FBI office, submit information via Tips.fbi.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324).

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