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| Ballot drop box in Lake Forest Park Photo by Sarah Phillips |
The ballots in it were destroyed, making a lot of extra work for elections officials to let people know and ask them to contact elections to resubmit their ballot.
It was one day's worth of ballots, as the drop boxes in Washington are emptied on a daily basis.
U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman and Greg Austin, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office released the following statement:
“The U.S. 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.”Anyone with information is asked to contact the nearest FBI office, provide information through tips.fbi.gov, or call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324).
Locally, Julie Wise, King County Director of Elections stated "We are prepared and ready to make sure our voters can return their ballot safely and securely.”
Constructed of steel, weighing in at over 1,000 pounds, with no pry points and multiple locking mechanisms, and equipped with fire stops, official ballot drop boxes are a secure and convenient way for voters to return their ballot.
Drop boxes are emptied at least once a day during the voting period, and King County Elections is adding additional pick-ups to minimize the time that ballots spend in the boxes.
Every official ballot drop box in King County will have security on Election Day, in addition to being staffed by Elections staff.
“We are working with our deputies on patrol to ensure they are aware of all King County drop box locations. We will respond appropriately to any call of service where the right to drop off a ballot safely and securely is interfered with in anyway,” stated Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall.
“Assaults on democracy will not be tolerated here in King County. Any attempt to intimidate or discourage voters from making their voices heard will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Leesa Manion, King County Prosecuting Attorney.
King County Elections staff have been trained to call 911 in the event of anything suspicious, and local law enforcement partners are briefed and ready to respond when needed. In addition, King County Elections and local law enforcement are in close coordination with federal partners such as the FBI and CISA.
This is just happy talk from our officials. King County's drop boxes remain unguarded and vulnerable to attack. Many of them aren't even monitored by cameras.
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