close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

Burning ballots pulled from Vancouver’s smoking ballot box; hundreds of ballots lost
news

Burning ballots pulled from Vancouver’s smoking ballot box; hundreds of ballots lost

KATU was on scene early Monday morning at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver, where heavy smoke was coming from a ballot box.

Our photographer captured the gray smoke steadily pouring from the Park and Ride ballot box at the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center near Southeast 162nd Avenue just after 6 a.m.

There were several police units in the area and the ballot box was cordoned off with police tape because it continued to smoke.

Around 6:30 a.m., KATU captured footage of first responders dropping a pile of actively burning ballots to the ground, which continued to smolder and smoke heavily even after the flames were extinguished.

The Clark County Election Auditor told us the last round of voting at that location was at 8 a.m. Sunday. There were hundreds of ballots inside at the time of the fire, and KATU was told only a few might be salvageable.

Voters who dropped off their ballots at that location after 11 a.m. Saturday should contact the elections auditor IMMEDIATELY for a new ballot.

A link to the Clark County Elections page, with contact information for the auditor’s office, can be found HERE.

Police have not yet released any information about the incident.

Just a few hours earlier, Portland police had responded to an arson at a ballot box in SE Portland.

READ MORE:An incendiary device exploded in the SE Portland ballot box, causing a fire

Investigators say an incendiary device detonated inside the coffin, causing a fire.

The fire has been extinguished and the device has been evacuated. The PPB is investigating the incident.

Editor’s note: The Clark County Auditor’s Office originally told KATU that the last round of voting had been at 8 a.m. Sunday. They later corrected this to Saturday 11am.