A ballot box in Vancouver, Washington was set on fire early Monday morning, destroying hundreds of ballots.

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Erik Neumann/OPB

In the final phase before Election Day, ballot papers in two ballot boxes and a post office mailbox were set on fire and damaged in three states. Federal officials have warned that some social media users have encouraged ballot box sabotage in recent months.

Early Monday morning, Portland, Oregon police responded to a fire reportedly started by “an incendiary device” in a ballot drop box. The Multnomah County Elections Department in Oregon said in a statement that three ballots were damaged. “Fire extinguishers in the ballot box protected virtually all ballots,” the statement said.

Hours later, another mailbox was set on fire in nearby Vancouver, Washington, where officials said “hundreds” of ballots were severely damaged when that mailbox’s fire suppression system malfunctioned.

“The majority of the ballots are completely destroyed and the remaining ballots are severely damaged and very, very wet,” Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey told NPR. He said his office is increasing the number of mailbox pickups so ballots don’t sit in mailboxes as long.

At a news conference, Portland police officials said they believe the two incidents are related.

“It’s heartbreaking. It is a direct attack on democracy,” said Kimsey, who has held his office for 26 years.

Law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are still investigating in both Washington and Oregon, where election officials are asking voters who dropped off their ballots at those drop boxes over the weekend to contact them so they can vote safely .

In a statement, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs condemned what he called “acts of terrorism” and reminded voters that they could check online to see if their ballot was marked returned and print out a replacement ballot or drop one off in person .

U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat who represents Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, called on police officers to guard mailboxes in the district. Gluesenkamp Perez faces a closely contested race and won her 2022 election by fewer than 3,000 votes. Her opponent, Republican Joe Kent, called the fire “a cowardly act of domestic terrorism.”

Last week, 35-year-old Dieter Klofkorn in Arizona told Phoenix police that he set fire to a USPS mailbox on October 24th. “Klofkorn stated that he committed the arson because he wanted to be arrested and that his actions were not politically motivated and had nothing to do with the upcoming election,” Phoenix police said in a statement.

In Oregon and Washington, voting is done exclusively by mail and drop box, while in Arizona almost all voters cast their ballots early, which are returned the same way. Ballot drop boxes have been the subject of conspiracy theory narratives and false claims about their security since the 2020 election cycle, according to Max Read, a senior elections research manager at the nonprofit Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which studies extremism and disinformation.

“There are a lot of misunderstandings and, frankly, just lies about what security measures are in place, not just at the polls but throughout the entire system of tabulating and certifying electoral votes,” Read said. “Small incidents like these arson incidents can be used to reinforce and support these claims in the future.”

In September, the Department of Homeland Security said in an intelligence report obtained based on public records from the nonprofit government transparency group Property of the People that ballot drop boxes are viewed as “soft targets” (domestic violent extremists) based on online discussions in forums they frequent other threat actors with election-related complaints.”

The department wrote that similar online discussions have occurred in previous election cycles. In 2020, about 100 ballots were damaged when a ballot box was set on fire in Los Angeles. That same month, dozens of ballots were damaged in Boston when a man who officials described as “emotionally disturbed” set fire to a mailbox near a public library.

Read says it’s important to remember that mailboxes are often under video surveillance and, in many places, are equipped with fire extinguishers.

“These mailboxes are well thought out and have these measures. And people should not allow these isolated incidents to undermine their confidence in these voting methods, which are generally extremely secure,” Read said.

In total, the three incidents affected hundreds of ballots, especially in Washington. Nearly three million votes were cast in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, according to data reported Monday afternoon by the University of Florida’s Election Lab.

NPR producer Audrey Nguyen and Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Dirk VanderHart contributed to this story.