The man accused of setting ballot boxes on fire in Oregon and Washington states is a blacksmith and may be planning more attacks, authorities said Wednesday.
Investigators believe the man who placed hot items in ballot boxes in Portland, Ore., and nearby Vancouver, Wash., has “extensive experience” in metalworking and welding, said Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner.
The way these devices are built and the way they are connected to the metal boxes show that technology, said Benner.
Authorities described the suspect as white, 30 to 40 years old, with bald or short hair.
Earlier, police said surveillance video showed the man driving a black or dark colored Volvo S-60 from 2001 to 2004. The car did not have a front plate, but had a rear plate with unknown letters or numbers.
The explosive devices were emblazoned with the message “Free Gaza,” according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
A third device placed in a separate box in Vancouver earlier this month also had the words “Free Palestine” in addition to “Free Gaza,” the official said.
Efforts to find the suspect, the motive for the attack
Investigators are trying to identify the person responsible and the motive behind the alleged attack that burned, destroyed or damaged hundreds of ballots at a Vancouver drop-off site on Monday when the box's fire suppression system malfunctioned.
Authorities are trying to find out if the suspect really had pro-Palestinian views or if he used the message to try to create confusion, according to the official.
Surveillance footage captured the Volvo pulling over in Portland shortly before nearby security forces discovered a fire inside the box on Monday, according to Benner. The early morning fire was extinguished quickly thanks to a box suppression system and nearby security, police said. Only three votes were inside damaged.
The Vancouver ballot box that burned also had an internal fire suppression system, but it failed to prevent hundreds of ballots from burning, said Greg Kimsey, a longtime elected auditor in Clark County, Wash.
Election workers were able to identify 488 spoiled ballots found in the box, and as of Tuesday evening, 345 of those voters contacted the auditor's office to request replacements, the office said in a statement Wednesday. The office will send 143 ballots to other identified voters on Thursday.
Six of these ballots were still unclear, and the office said the exact number of ballots that were destroyed is unknown, as some were completely destroyed.
Election workers on Wednesday planned to sort through the damaged ballots to find out who cast them, in the hope that those voters can be given additional ballots. Kimsey urged voters who dropped their ballots in the transportation center box between 11 a.m. local time on Saturday and early Monday to contact his office to have another ballot cast.
Authorities in Portland said Monday that enough material from the devices was found to show that the two fires were connected — and that they were connected to a fire that set off on Oct. 8 in a separate ballot box in Vancouver. No votes were spoiled in that incident.
Voters in Washington are encouraged to check the status of their ballots online to track their return status. If the returned ballot is not marked as “received,” voters can print a replacement ballot or visit their local elections office to pick it up, the secretary of state's office said.
Source link
