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Ballot burnings highlight concerns that election conspiracy theories make them a target

Pabio November 5, 2024

Two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were damaged in a suspected arson attack just over a week before Election Day, destroying hundreds of ballots in one location at Vancouver, Washington.

On the other hand, in nearby Portland, Oregon, it appears a fire suppression system was successful in containing the fire and limiting the number of damaged ballots to three. Authorities are reviewing surveillance footage to try to identify those responsible.

Here’s what happened, how rules and security measures around drop boxes vary across the country and how election conspiracy theories have undermined confidence in their use.

What do we know?

Police said incendiary devices started fires at drop boxes in Portland and Vancouver. Authorities said evidence showed the fires were connected and were also linked to an incident on Oct. 8, when an incendiary device was placed in another drop box in Vancouver.

Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said his office plans to contact the three voters whose ballots were damaged in Portland to help them find replacements.

In Vancouver, hundreds of ballots were lost in a box at Fisher’s Landing Transit Center when the box’s fire suppression system failed to work as intended. Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said the box was last emptied at 11 a.m. Saturday. Voters who subsequently cast their ballot there are invited to contact the office to obtain a new one.

The office will increase the frequency of ballot collection and change collection times to evenings to prevent ballot boxes from remaining full overnight, when vandalism is more likely to occur.

Kimsey described the alleged arson as “a direct attack on democracy.”

When and where can drop boxes be used?

Drop boxes have been used for years in states like Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington, where ballots are mailed to all registered voters.

They gained popularity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, as election officials sought options for voters who wanted to avoid crowded polling places or were worried about mail delays.

A total of 27 states and the District of Columbia allow ballot drop boxes, according to data collected by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Six others do not have specific laws but allow local communities to use them.

Placement can vary greatly. In some communities, they are located inside public buildings, available only during business hours. Elsewhere, they are outside and accessible at all hours, usually under video surveillance or surveillance.

Sporadic problems have arisen over the years.

In 2020, a few drop boxes were struck by vehicles and one in Massachusetts was damaged by arson. In this case, most ballots were legible enough that voters could be identified and sent to replacements. A drop box was also set on fire in Los Angeles County in 2020.

How to secure them?

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency advises state and local election officials to place drop boxes in convenient, high-traffic areas familiar to voters, such as libraries and community centers.

If drop boxes are unstaffed, they should be secure and locked at all times, located in well-lit areas and monitored by CCTV cameras, the guidelines state. Many are grounded, monitored by cameras or confined to public buildings during office hours, where they can be monitored.

How have conspiracy theories contributed to concerns around drop boxes?

Ballot boxes have been in the spotlight for four years, targeted by right-wing conspiracy theories that falsely claimed they were responsible for massive voter fraud in 2020.

A debunked film called “2,000 Mules” amplified these claims, exposing millions of people to a baseless theory that a ballot harvesting operation was dropping fraudulent ballots into ballot boxes in the dark of night .

An Associated Press survey of state election officials across the United States found there were no widespread problems associated with drop boxes in 2020.

Paranoia about drop boxes continued until the 2022 midterms, when armed militias began showing up to police them in Arizona and were restricted by a federal judge. This year, the conservative group True the Vote launched a website hosting livestreams of drop boxes in various states.

In Montana, where a major U.S. Senate race is underway, Republicans recently used an unfounded allegation of ballot tampering to raise money amid doubts about the election process.

How have states responded since the 2020 elections?

Republican lawmakers in several states have sought to tighten rules around mail-in voting after the 2020 election, and much of their attention has focused on the use of ballot drop boxes.

Six states have since banned them: Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and South Dakota, according to a study by the Voting Rights Lab, which advocates for expanded access to voting.

Other states have restricted their use. That includes Ohio and Iowa, which now only allow one drop box per county, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

In Georgia’s Fulton County, which includes Atlanta and has a population of more than 1 million, 10 ballot drop boxes are available for this year’s presidential election. That’s down from 38 recorded four years ago, under an emergency rule imposed by the pandemic. It’s the result of an election overhaul led by Georgia Republicans in response to former President Donald Trump’s false claims that an election was stolen.

A total of 12 states either ban drop boxes or do not list them as an approved method for returning a ballot, according to data collected by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Five other states have no state law and do not use drop boxes.

Drop boxes have been used for years in Wisconsin, one of this year’s presidential battlegrounds, but their support has split along ideological lines since 2020. In Wausau, the conservative mayor took the single box filing by the city, an action that is being investigated by the state Department of Justice. The drop box has since been returned and is in use.

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