Just 7 days before the elections in America, there have been incidents of fire in ballot boxes in two places. The first case is in Vancouver, Washington where a ballot box caught fire. Hundreds of ballot papers collected in it were burnt to ashes.
Another incident of ballot box burning occurred in Portland, Oregon. How the fire started is not yet known. Election officials are trying to trace the arsonists through CCTV footage.
According to CNN, a ballot box caught fire at 3:30 a.m. Monday in Portland. However, most of the ballot papers survived the burning. Only three ballot papers were burnt.
Elections official Tim Scott said voters whose ballot papers were burned would be contacted and given new ballots.
At the same time, hundreds of ballot papers were burned in a burning ballot box in Vancouver. Laura Shepherd, spokeswoman for the directorate of elections in Vancouver, urged everyone who voted in the box after 11 a.m. Saturday to verify their ballot.
Ballot boxes affected by the incident have been sealed and the case is being probed.
FBI spokesman Steve Berndt says the incidents are being investigated with the help of state and local agencies.
Negligence despite warning of security agencies These incidents happened after an alert from the FBI and Homeland Security. Agencies warned that extremists could incite violence during the elections.
Recently other similar incidents have also come to light. A mailbox caught fire outside a post office in Phoenix, Arizona. A person has been accused of arson here, though the police say it is not an election-related case.
The ballot boxes where the fire broke out are located 15 miles away. The Vancouver box is in a high-profile district where incumbent Rep. Mary Glusenkamp Perez is running against Republican Joe Kent.
Trying to attack Trump twice
There were two assassination attempts on former President Trump in this election.
Electoral violence has become common in America, the world's oldest democracy. There have been two assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump in this election. According to a recent Economic Times survey, 75% of American voters fear potential election violence.
Before this, four presidents have been killed in America. Apart from these four, 16 other former presidents have also survived such attacks. Even after the 2020 elections, Trump supporters staged arson and vandalism, calling the election results falsified.
Fearing arson and looting, shopkeepers downed their shutters and shielded their shops with plywood on the day of the election results in American markets.
Trump supporters took to the streets after the election results in 2020.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
