Two ballot boxes were set on fire in the Portland, Ore., area on Monday morning, authorities said.
Officials said hundreds of ballots were likely damaged in the fires in southeast Portland and the northern suburb of Vancouver, Wash., local NBC affiliate KGW reported.
Photos from both scenes appeared to show small holes in the boxes where incendiary devices were possibly inserted. No suspects were immediately identified or arrested.
Portland police spotted the first fire around 3:30 a.m. at a ballot box SE Morrison St., according to a press release. By the time officers arrived, security personnel in the area had already doused the fire.
“Officers determined an incendiary device was placed inside the ballot box and used to ignite the fire,” the Portland Police Bureau said in a press release. A police explosives unit located the device and cleared it.
About three hours later, a fire was spotted in a box at Fisher’s Landing Transit Depot in Vancouver, local ABC affiliate KATU reported.
The county auditor said hundreds of ballots could have been damaged, as ballots from the box were last picked up around 11 a.m. Saturday, according to KGW.
Both fires were started just over a week before Election Day on Nov. 5. Early voting began in many states across the country last week, with people dropping off ballots in boxes in their communities.
Portland and Vancouver voted overwhelmingly in favor of Joe Biden over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, and Pacific Northwestern cities are well-known for backing Democratic candidates over Republicans.
Also on Monday morning, U.S. intelligence agencies warned that domestic extremists inspired by conspiracy theories are the biggest threat to the election.
