With Election Day just around the corner, authorities in Oregon and Washington did open investigations and stepped up security measures after two ballot boxes were set on fire on Monday.

Three ballots were damaged after an incendiary device was found inside a ballot box in Portland, Oregon, on Monday. And on the same day, officials feared hundreds of ballots had been damaged by a fire at a polling station near Vancouver, Washington. Police said a “suspicious device” was found near the box.

Ballot boxes have historically been the target of disinformation, according to experts, who say false claims increased in 2020 when then-President Donald Trump raised doubts about the security of mail-in ballots. The polls now face increasing physical threats, according to election officials and internal US government warnings.

US intelligence officials said “domestic violent extremists” may target ballot boxes because of their accessibility, according to internal reports issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI in the months leading up to the election.

The DHS report said social media users discussed methods to damage ballots and ballot boxes, such as using road rockets or gasoline. The intelligence reports were first obtained under the open records law by Property of the People, a nonprofit focused on government transparency and national security.

The incidents in Oregon and Washington are not the first time ballot boxes have been the target of attacks. Ahead of Election Day 2020, ballot boxes were also set on fire in two separate incidents in Massachusetts and California.

A drop box is a secure container for mail-in ballots, providing an alternative to mailing ballots through the US Postal Service. Outer boxes are usually tamper-resistant and anchored with secure locks and other security features in accordance with Cyber ​​Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The agency is part of DHS and focuses on federal cybersecurity while working to protect against security risks related to the 2024 election.

CISA also said outdoor storage boxes often have features to prevent fire and water damage.

The officials said a firefighter protected nearly every ballot in an Oregon transfer box. While the Washington poll also had a fire suppression system, Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey told The Associated Press that the system was not effective.

The inner boxes are generally monitored by trained workers and video surveillance, CISA said. Ballots in the boxes can only be accessed by election officials, often bipartisan collection teams, according to US Election Assistance Commissionwhich supports state and local election officials.

Misinformation targeting ballot boxes

Electoral infrastructure was a focal point for misinformationincluding 2020 when drop boxes became a increasingly popular the option for voters to send their ballots by mail amid the pandemic.

Paul Gronke, a political science professor at Reed College and director of the Election and Voting Information Center, said ballot boxes have become a major target of disinformation in 2020 as Trump repeatedly raised doubts and suspicions about boxes and postal ballots. of his false claim that the 2020 election was “stolen”.

In August 2020, Trump appointed mailboxes a “voter security disaster”, but he eventually embraced postal voting in 2024 and was used by millions of voters in both parties this year.

Misleading claims and videos have spread widely on social media. In one example, social media users claimed footage of a woman placing at least three ballots into a drop box in Ohio in October 2020 was evidence of mail-in ballot fraud. But the election officials said it is not illegal to put multiple ballots in the ballot box in Ohio as long as they are all from family members.

Such examples are often cited as evidence that ballot boxes are a problem; however, say the experts deposit boxes provide a reliable and secure way to protect ballot papers, and that there is little or no evidence that they were used for voter fraud.

Gronke says the physical attacks on the pits are likely related to widespread misinformation circulating since 2020.

“Unfortunately, we’re in a place right now in some parts of America where people are frustrated enough, angry and outraged by some of the misinformation they’re hearing,” Gronke said.

Loudspeakers are allowed in 27 states and the District of Columbia, while 12 states have banned them, according to National Conference of State Legislatures. Each state has its own rules for securing boxes.

States and counties also have systems in place to keep track of every ballot mailed in and returned, says CBS News election law contributor David Becker.

In both Washington and Oregon, election officials said voters whose ballots were damaged would receive replacement ballots.

“We have several systems and security measures in place to make sure your ballot is safe,” Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said in a statement. “Your Elections team is working hard to make sure every vote counts.”

“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,” said Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. said about the Vancouver incident.

contributed to this report.