The FBI’s investigation into the drop box arson continues and law enforcement in Washington state is increasing patrols

The FBI continues to investigate Monday’s arson attack that destroyed hundreds of ballots at a drop box in Vancouver, Washington.

An incendiary device was also dropped next to the Portland drop box, but fire suppression built into the box extinguished the flames before more damage was done. Multnomah County election officials reported only three ballots were damaged.

Joni McAnally, communications specialist for the Clark County Executive’s office, told The Center Square via email that the Vancouver drop box was also equipped with a fire suppression system, “but it was not working as it should.”

Later Wednesday, another email from McAnally indicated that election staff had successfully identified 488 damaged ballots removed from the ballot box.

“345 of the identified voters have already contacted the Electoral Office requesting a ballot replacement,” she said. “Tomorrow, Thursday, October 31, election workers will mail 143 ballots to additional identified voters.”

Election staff failed to identify six ballots. The email shows that other ballots may have been completely burned to ashes and therefore unidentifiable.

“I appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience as we work through this unprecedented event,” said County Auditor Greg Kimsey. “We have taken actions that I hope will increase voter confidence in using district ballot boxes.”

County officials said election workers have updated their drop box collection schedule and are now collecting ballots every day before 5:30 p.m. Ballots submitted in advance will be delivered to the Elections Office on the same day.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Vancouver Police Department have increased patrols around ballot drop box locations as emergency calls allow.

In addition to the increased law enforcement presence, county officials said via email that employees are now serving as ballot box observers 24 hours a day, seven days a week at each of the county’s 22 drop boxes. Employees will not confront anyone. Their job is to observe and report any suspicious activity to the appropriate authorities.

On Wednesday, election workers were scheduled to continue sorting damaged ballots and contacting voters who may need a replacement ballot.

According to According to The New York Times, incendiary devices found at drop box arson sites in Vancouver and Portland were marked with the words “Free Gaza.”

Elsewhere, votes poured in.

“So far, we’ve seen a really steady increase in voting here in King County,” Halei Watkins, communications manager for King County Elections, said in a Wednesday interview with The Center Square. “We’re about 35% as of Wednesday morning, but that doesn’t include what we’ll receive in the mail and in our mailboxes today.”

In the 2020 King County elections, she said, about 200,000 votes were tallied in the first few days of voting.

“We’re actually lagging a little bit behind 2020, where we saw a very strong showing in the first weekend of voting that we didn’t have this time,” Watkins said. “On the first weekend of this year, it was only about 50,000 votes, but we have full bins arriving at many of our drop boxes every day and we are collecting about 30,000-40,000 ballots every day.”

In Washington, D.C., election workers can begin processing your ballot once they receive it. This means they check the signature on the return envelope and compare it to the signature on file. If the signatures match, the ballot counts and is ready to be counted, and the preliminary results will be announced on November 5 after 8 p.m.

Even a name change will not disqualify the ballot if the handwriting is clearly the same, although in such a situation the auditor will send the voter a name change form.

Watkins said the burning of drop boxes in Vancouver and Portland on Monday could be part of the reason for heavy traffic in Renton election headquarters this week.

“We see a lot of people come into our office and either use the drop boxes in our parking lot or come inside to drop them off, which provides peace of mind in the office,” she said.

“Seeing those photos from Clark County and the burning ballots really broke my heart,” said Watkins, who told The Center Square that their drop boxes are designed with two fire-resistant partitions inside. Officials are taking extra precautions to ensure the security of ballots.

“We are adding additional collections, so all will be collected at least twice a day, and our busier boxes will be collected more frequently. We will be adding pickups as we get closer to Election Day next week,” she said.

Law enforcement agencies are increasing patrols.

“The King County Sheriff’s Office and other local agencies are doing more frequent security checks of our drop boxes to keep an eye on them and make sure nothing suspicious is going on,” said Watkins, who noted that voters should report anything suspicious.

She continued: “If voters feel intimidated entering the drop box or see something that concerns them, they can call 911, and law enforcement has told us very clearly that people should not hesitate to call.”

Meanwhile, in Whitman County, in the southeastern part of the state, hundreds of voters have not yet received their ballots.

Tuesday press release Whitman County Auditor Sandy Jamison read: “I have come to the conclusion that some registered voters in Whitman County have not yet received their ballots for the upcoming election.”

Jamison wrote that she verified that all ballots had been processed at the Spokane main plant on October 16, but concluded, “The problem appears to be in the ballot distribution process AFTER these ballots were marked as ‘successfully scanned’ ” by the USPS into its system at the processing plant.”

Jamison urged voters to print a replacement ballot at: VoteWA.gov or call the auditor’s office for more information at 509-397-5284.