Mail-in ballots for the Nov. 5 election were damaged when a fire was set to a USPS mailbox overnight in Arizona, which is expected to be a hotly contested swing state.
Approximately 20 ballots were damaged in the early Thursday morning blaze in Phoenix, according to local reports. Firefighters arrived to extinguish the flames around 1:20 a.m. after forcing the collection box open.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego expressed concern over the matter and vowed to bring whoever was responsible to justice. She announced an arrest Thursday afternoon, thanking Phoenix police, the Phoenix Fire Department and federal partners for their “swift action.”
No details on the suspect were released.
Exactly how many ballots were destroyed is unclear. Voters who used the mailbox at 7th Avenue and Indian School Road are advised to log onto the Maricopa elections website to check the status of their vote in a couple days.
One of the names on the ballot is Arizona Republican senatorial candidate Kari Lake, who has a history of fanning the flames of election fraud conspiracy theories.
Maricopa County election official Stephen Richer sued the former local Fox reporter in 2023 after she stated without evidence that her loss in the state’s gubernatorial race was due to impropriety. She also falsely insisted Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.
Polls show Lake trailing Democrat Ruben Gallego 11 days before the election.
The mailbox fire comes on the same day that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is visiting Arizona, while VP Kamala Harris campaigns in Georgia. Recent polls show Trump holding a slim lead over Harris in the final stretch of the 2024 race.
