On Monday, authorities were investigating after fires were set inside ballot drop boxes in Portland, Oregon, and in nearby Vancouver, Washington, destroying hundreds of ballots.

Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said the fire suppressant inside the drop box was able to protect nearly all the ballots; only three were damaged, and his office planned to contact those voters to help them obtain replacement ballots. However across the Columbia River in Vancouver, while the ballot box in question did have a fire suppressant system inside, it was not effective, and hundreds of ballots were lost, according to Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey.

Vancouver is inside Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, which is the site of what many consider to be one of the closet House races in the country this year, between Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican Joe Kent.

Police officers and firefighters first resounded to reports of the fires at about 3:30 a.m., and said that incendiary devices had been placed inside, according to the Portland Police Bureau.

There are surveillance cameras with coverage of the ballot drop boxes and their surroundings.

Auditor Greg Kimsey summed up the situation, calling it “heartbreaking” and saying “It’s a direct attack on democracy.”

{Matzav.com}