Officials in Washington and Oregon recently provided updates to the ballot box arson incidents that have destroyed or damaged hundreds of ballots. Investigators have determined that the incendiary devices that were used to destroy the ballot boxes had markings that “Free Gaza” and “Free Palestine.” It has not been determined if the pro-Palestine statements were from a legitimate activist group or if they were deceptively used to stoke existing geopolitical tensions.
Reportedly, officials in Clark County, Washington believe that an incident in 475 ballots were damages is tied to other incidents in Vancouver and Portland, Oregon, where a suspect used incendiary device. One young voter, whose ballot was destroyed, said, ” It was really jarring to hear. I just I think it’s very unfortunate that we are at a time and country where we try to silence others.” Security efforts around ballot boxes have been increased in light of the incidents.
According to a statement from US Attorney Tessa M. Gorman and Greg Austin, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle office, “The US Attorney’s Office and the FBI want to assure our communities that we are working closely and expeditiously together to investigate the two incendiary fires at the ballot boxes in Vancouver, Washington, and the one in Portland, Oregon, and will work to hold whoever is responsible fully accountable.”
The watchdog group Property of the People further highlighted a bulletin from the US Department of Homeland Security in September, which said, “Some social media users are discussing and encouraging various methods of sabotaging ballot drop boxes and avoiding detection, likely heightening the potential for targeting of this election infrastructure through the 2024 election cycle.”
“Drop boxes are useful and secure ways voters can return their mail ballot without using the US Postal Service,” Jay Riestenberg, director of communications for Voting Rights Lab said. “They help cut down on ballots returned by mail, which can alleviate the stress put on the US Postal Service and local election officials during busy election seasons.”
In other early voting news, The American Tribune reported on comments from the former Obama campaign manager, Jim Messina, who noted the early voting signs were “scary” for Kamala Harris and the Democrats. Messina told Jen Psaki that the “early vote numbers are a little scary” for the Democrats. He further noted, “Republicans didn’t do what they did last time.”
He continued, “Republicans didn’t do what they did last time. Last time, Trump said don’t early vote so they didn’t. Republicans do have an advantage in early vote numbers. When the early votes come in, it’s going to look a little bit different than 2020 and that’s scary.” However, he pointed out the silver lining for Democrats, stating, “Republicans didn’t do what they did last time. Last time, Trump said don’t early vote so they didn’t. Republicans do have an advantage in early vote numbers. When the early votes come in, it’s going to look a little bit different than 2020 and that’s scary.”
Watch the update on the Pacific Northwest ballot boxes below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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