Two US ballot drop boxes set on fire; 'suspect vehicle' identified

Two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest were set ablaze in apparent cases of arson in the early morning hours of Oct 28, and elections officials at one site said they feared that hundreds of ballots had been destroyed.

After determining that the fire was a result of arson, the Portland Police Bureau asked the public to help identify the perpetrator.

Election officials just to the north, in Vancouver, Washington, said a fire was reported at a ballot drop box there about an hour after the one in Portland. Police were also investigating that episode and reported finding a suspicious device next to the box.

Mr. Mike Benner, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said that investigators believed the two fires were connected and that a "suspect vehicle" had been identified from surveillance footage.

The FBI said it was investigating both fires "to determine who is responsible".

"It's heartbreaking," Clark County auditor Greg Kimsey said in an interview. "It's a direct attack on democracy. Interfering with people's vote is anti-American."