A vessel for conspiracies: attacks on ballot boxes

After the 2020 election in the United States, debates about ballot boxes are taking place.

Source: dpa

In Vancouver, Washington, an incendiary device destroyed hundreds of ballots. Another ballot box was set on fire in neighboring Portland, Oregon. Only three ballot papers were damaged as fire extinguishers were launched there.

Officials spoke of a direct attack on democracy; They analyze the surveillance footage and try to identify those responsible.

Answers to important questions about the importance of ballot boxes and responses to recent attacks:

States like Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington have had ballot boxes placed in public places before Election Day for years. Registered voters may receive their ballots and return them by mail or place them in such ballot boxes.

In some communities, these caskets are located in public buildings and accessible only during office hours. Elsewhere they are set up outdoors and accessible at any time. They are then usually monitored by video cameras or monitored by staff. Many are lying on the ground. There are also fire extinguishing systems.

There have been occasional problems over the years. In 2020, some drop boxes were hit by vehicles. A casket was destroyed by fire in Massachusetts. However, most of the ballots were sufficient to identify voters and obtain replacement votes. A special casket was cremated in Los Angeles County in 2020.

Since the elections were held four years ago, the focus was on the ballot boxes. At the time, they were targeted by right-wing conspiracy theorists who falsely claimed they were being used for massive election fraud. A movie called “2,000 Donkeys” claimed that fake ballots were deposited in such ballot boxes in the dark.

An AP survey of election officials found no widespread problems with ballot boxes in 2020.

Paranoia about ballot boxes continued in the 2022 midterm elections, with Arizona saying it wants armed vigilantes to monitor them. They were dismissed by a federal judge.

This year, the conservative group True the Vote launched a website showing live broadcasts of ballot boxes in various states.

Other states have restricted the use of ballot boxes. This includes Ohio and Iowa, where only one drop box is allowed per county, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Portland's director of elections said his office plans to contact the three voters whose ballots were damaged to help them get replacements.

In Vancouver, the fire suppression system at the ballot box did not work as planned. According to officials, the ballot box was last emptied at 11 am (local time) on Saturday. Voters who voted there then were urged to request new voting documents. The office now wants to empty ballot boxes more often so that ballots don't overflow overnight when attacks are high.