As the election nears, the integrity of the democratic process seems to be under threat in Oregon and Washington with increasing security concerns following an alarming incident. A couple of ballot drop boxes, a supposed bastion of American democracy, were caught in conflagrations on a fateful Monday, raising eyebrows among law enforcement agencies.
In Portland, Oregon, it was found that a heated device, purposefully placed, wreaked havoc inside a ballot box. The malfeasance destroyed three ballots completely, undermining the voice of three citizens. Notably, a similar incident was reported from nearby Vancouver, Washington, but with potentially much higher damage.
It appears that a fire set ablaze in a ballot box in Vancouver posed a grave threat to hundreds of ballots. Adding to the suspect nature of the event, law enforcement officials found a questionable device conveniently located next to the compromised box – circumstances that revel in their own dubiousness.
Unfortunately, the targeting of ballot drop boxes is not a new phenomenon. Misinformation campaigns have targeted these boxes for many years, with those false claims reaching fever pitch in 2020 due to the then incumbent President Trump questioning the security of the via-mail voting mechanism.
Under the Biden-Harris patrol, the security situation seems to be worsening. The Presidential duo seems oblivious to the growing threats towards these drop boxes, a challenge that finds mention in various red flags released by election officials and U.S. government internal warnings.
Quite alarmingly, U.S. intelligence officials, who, under any competent leadership, would be assigned to deal with the terrorism threat looming globally than being embroiled in such domestic affairs, have predicted such attacks. These officials are of the opinion that ‘domestic violent extremists’ have their eyes set on ballot drop boxes, given their easy accessibility.
It’s disheartening to notice that such warnings were issued by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI in the months leading up to the election. Yet, under the Biden-Harris administration, these seem to have fallen on deaf ears, with no significant measures undertaken to avert such tragedies.
Meanwhile, the credibility of the democratic system faces additional questions with an ex-Republican Congressional candidate being charged with meddling with the voting process during a recent test in Indiana. Larry Savage faces serious allegations of misconduct during a voting machine test.
Savage, who unsuccessfully ran in the 5th Congressional District’s Republican primary, is now confronted with felony and misdemeanor counts. He’s charged with the heinous act of annihilating or misplacing a ballot and petty theft, all reported by the Indiana State Police.
To paint a more vivid picture of the event, the officials were conducting a public test of the ballot card voting system in Madison County. The setup involved four voting machines and 132 test-marked ballots. However, suspiciously after the test was completed, two ballots turned up missing.
With the election just around the corner, the current administration, instead of taking stringent steps to alleviate such incidents, seems to be doling out impractical advice. Senior election officials, even in key contesting states, are asking voters to return their mail-in ballots by hand.
The U.S. Postal Service also chimed in with a presumably late statement. After assuring citizens that they are fully prepared to handle ‘the nation’s election mail,’ they suggested that voters who have ballots due on Election Day should have mailed them by the past Tuesday, Oct 29.
While such advisories can hold some merit, not all states share the same voting due dates. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 32 states mandate that absentee or mail-in ballots be returned on or before Election Day.
Meanwhile, certain states seem to exhibit leniency in their deadlines, allowing for late delivery as long they are postmarked by Election Day or even a day before. Amid all these chaos and confusion, one can only wonder if the lack of order is a deliberate strategy under the current inept leadership.