Police in Portland, Oregon, have released new details about the suspect in Monday’s ballot box fires in Southeast Portland and Vancouver, Wash.

Portland Police Bureau reported Late Wednesday, the suspect was described as “a Caucasian male, 30-40 years old, very short hair or bald, slim to medium build, thin face, wearing a dark shirt, highly knowledgeable in both metal fabrication and welding.”

PPB said the suspect’s vehicle was “most likely a 2001-2004 Volvo S60, more matte-colored than standard gloss finish in some places, tan or light gray interior, aftermarket grille missing Volvo emblem, dark-colored wheels, unpainted body cladding, front end He stated that “there is no”. number plate.”

In the Portland incident, the fire suppression system inside the ballot box prevented the flames from spreading, leaving only three ballots damaged.

In Vancouver, a similar firefight inside the ballot box was unsuccessful and 488 ballot papers were damaged.

Clark County Elections Office officials said Wednesday that 345 voters contacted the elections office to request new ballots. Six ballots have not been identified, and election staff are trying to identify other voters whose ballots may have been damaged or destroyed.

On Thursday morning, Clark County released a news release: release “There may be people and groups who set up ballot boxes in the district and invite their voters to those ballot boxes. This is called vote harvesting. Please know that these are not official ballot drop boxes and are not affiliated with the Clark County Elections Office.”

The Vancouver Police Department also issued a news release: “Voters who wish to drop off their ballot at a staffed, official ballot box are encouraged to use the official ballot drop box at the Elections Office, 1408 Franklin St., Vancouver, On. MF 08:00 – 17:00; this Saturday, November 2, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Election Day, November 5, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.”

In the wake of recent ballot box fires, county election officials in Washington’s most populous areas are increasing security around polls.

Sierra Cornelius of the Snohomish County Auditor’s Office emailed Center Square to say her office has 24-hour security measures in place at mailboxes.

“We have private security monitoring all of our ballot drop boxes, including night patrols, and we have consulted with local law enforcement in each jurisdiction regarding the locations and security of the ballot boxes,” Cornelius said.

He added that ballot papers are collected regularly by trained teams at all locations and a chain of custody record is maintained throughout the process.

King County election staff told The Center Square they are working with local law enforcement to ensure ballot drop boxes are not tampered with.

“We are adding additional pickups so they will all be picked up at least twice a day, our busier boxes will pick up more than that and we will be adding pickups as we get closer to election day next week,” Halei Watkins said. , communications manager for King County Elections.