Federal authorities are investigating two ballot box fires reported Monday morning in the Portland, Ore., area that destroyed hundreds of ballots at one location, as well as another fire reported earlier this month.

Evidence from incendiary devices found at the ballot boxes Monday shows the fires are linked, as well as a third incident reported in Vancouver, Wash., on Oct. 8, said Mike Benner, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau. While many of the ballots in Portland were not affected, hundreds of ballots were destroyed at a ballot box in Vancouver, election officials said.

Portland police have also identified a “suspicious vehicle” seen leaving the scene of the Portland fire that is also believed to be connected to the two incidents in Vancouver, they said in a press release Monday. The car appears to be “a black or dark colored 2001-2004 Volvo S-60” that is missing a front license plate and has an unknown rear license plate, they said.

“We don’t know the motive behind these acts, it sounds like a string of three at this point, but we do know that acts like this are targeted and intentional,” Portland Police Bureau Deputy Chief Amanda McMillan said during a press conference. press Monday. “We are concerned about that intentional act that tries to affect the electoral process. We are dedicated to stopping this type of behavior and we are working on it today.”

Meanwhile, the FBI is conducting a “separate but parallel investigation” into the matter, Benner said. The agency’s Seattle office confirmed to CNN that it is working on the investigation.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement late Monday that “there will be increased 24-hour security around polling locations.”

“While law enforcement investigates this incident, we urge concerned voters in the Vancouver area to check with the Clark County Auditor’s office or VoteWA.gov for exact information on how to obtain a replacement ballot or track your ballot after it has been returned. There are several ways for voters to cast their vote and make sure their voice is heard,” he said.

Morning calls to the polls

Police responded to a call about a fire in Portland around 3:30 a.m. Monday, the Portland Police Bureau said. a statement. An “incendiary device” was attached to the side of the box and security personnel extinguished the fire, officials said. Police previously said the device was placed in the box.

While three ballots were damaged, 409 ballots were protected by fire extinguisher inside the box, Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said.

A second ballot box was set on fire early Monday morning at a bus stop in Vancouver, Wash., according to the Vancouver Police Department. When officers arrived, they found a “suspicious device” near the box, which was smoking and burning, police said.

Laura Shepard, spokeswoman for the city of Vancouver, said election officials are asking anyone who may have placed a ballot in the ballot box after 11 a.m. Saturday to contact them to check on the status of the ballot. Election officials are still counting all the ballots involved in the Vancouver fire, but they believe hundreds of ballots were destroyed, according to Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey.

“Some were damaged and could be duplicated and then processed, some were badly damaged, some were completely destroyed,” he told CNN.

An incendiary device was also found in a ballot box in Vancouver on Oct. 8 after someone called to report that the box was full of smoke, Benner said.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs condemned the fire and confirmed that some ballots had been damaged.

“We take the safety of our election workers seriously and will not tolerate threats or acts of violence that seek to undermine the democratic process,” Hobbs said, adding that he has “full confidence in the ability of our county election officials to keep elections in Washington safe and safe for all voters.”

Portland officials plan to contact the three affected voters “via unique identifiers on their envelopes so they can receive replacement ballots.” Voters who cast their ballots between 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Monday should contact the Multnomah County Division of Elections if they have questions, Scott said.

“Voters should be assured that even if their ballots are in the affected box, their votes will be counted,” Scott said.

Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said the fire was “an attack on our democracy and completely unacceptable. Whatever the motivation behind this incident, there is no justification for any attempt to disenfranchise voters.”

All polling stations in Multnomah County and Clark County have fire extinguishers installed, election officials said during a news conference Monday. In Multnomah County, mail-in voting is the most popular method because less than 1 percent of people vote in person, Scott told CNN; in Clark County, 60 percent of the ballots received come from the ballot box, Kimsey said.

Next steps as Election Day approaches

The ballot box in Portland has already been replaced, Multnomah County President Jessica Vega Pederson said, and law enforcement in Multnomah County and Vancouver, Wash., plan to increase ballot patrols in the area.

The boxes are about 15 miles apart. Vancouver’s is in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, where one of the the most competitive House races in the country takes place.

The district is represented by Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, one of five Democratic-held seats in a district won by former President Donald Trump in 2020. She faces a rematch against Republican Joe Kent, a retired Green Beret who had the endorsement of Trump.

Gluesenkamp Perez requested an overnight law enforcement presence at the polls in Clark County until Election Day after the damage. Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday, she said she wasn’t upset about the damaged ballots for partisan reasons, but “because I’m an American who sees the corrosive and toxic environment that we’ve seen across the country come home to -a real mod. harmful and ugly way.”

Other fires affecting ballots have been reported across the country recently. Last week, a mailbox outside a Phoenix post office was set on fire, destroying an unknown number of ballots. A 35-year-old man has been charged with arson in connection with the incident. The Phoenix Police Department said he told them it was not politically motivated.

The fires come after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security recently issued a bulletin raising concerns that “election grievances,” such as the belief in voter fraud, could motivate domestic extremists to engage in violence in the weeks before and after the November elections.

In the briefing note obtained by CNN, the agencies said some violent domestic extremists likely see places accessible to the public, including ballot boxes, as “attractive targets.”

Benner said he had no information on whether those incidents were related to the ballot, but noted that Portland police’s criminal intelligence unit is “monitoring anything and everything” related to planned attacks on ballot boxes or civil disturbances.

CNN’s Chris Boyette, Ethan Cohen, Sean Lyngaas and Natasha Chen contributed to this report.

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