Almost 500 damaged ballots retrieved from burned box in Washington state

Almost 500 damaged ballots were retrieved from a burned ballot box in Washington state, according to a county official. 

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said that about 475 ballots were recovered after an incendiary device was placed inside the box that caused them to burn, The Associated Press reported. Kimsey stated that election workers will sift through the ballots that were damaged in the fire to find the voters' contact information. Kinsey emphasized the number of damaged ballots is separate from the number of ballots that went up in smoke and could not be recovered. 

Ballots in Vancouver, Wash. were destroyed while some were damaged after local officials responded to an arson on Monday. Ballots were also damaged in the nearby Portland, Ore. after an incendiary device was placed inside a ballot box, damaging three ballots. 

Local, state and federal law enforcement are investigating the two incidents. 

U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman and FBI Seattle Field Office acting special agent Greg Austin said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they are "working closely and expeditiously together to investigate the two incendiary fires at the ballot boxes in Vancouver, Washington, and the one in Portland, Oregon, and will work to hold whoever is responsible fully accountable."

Officials said during a press conference on Monday that early evidence suggested that the incidents were linked and the suspect vehicle has been identified.

Portland and Vancouver are around 15 miles apart. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), who is running in a tight reelection race against Republican challenger Joe Kent for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, called the burning of the ballot box “unpatriotic.” 

The Hill has reached out to Kimsey for further information.