The aftermath of the 2020 election was riddled with lawsuits related to alleged voter fraud. Some of those legal battles are still playing out -- to some degree -- today.

While that was bad enough, according to Fox News, someone decided it would be a good idea to set several drop-off ballot boxes on fire, creating a whole new potential set of legal issues. 

The fire took place in Vancouver, Washington, where police said "hundreds" of ballots were destroyed by a suspected arsonist.

Ballots were also destroyed at a ballot drop-box in Portland, Oregon, according to local law enforcement.

What's going on?

Notably, both of the ballot dropboxes that were destroyed were equipped with internal fire suppression systems, however, the one in Vancouver failed to properly function, leading to hundreds of ballots being burnt or destroyed.

Police in both cases said the incendiary devices that set afire both dropboxes were placed outside of the box and not dropped in.

Additionally, police say the two acts of arson are connected.

Fox News reported:

During a press conference on Monday, authorities said they were able to recover enough material from the devices to show that the two fires were connected. They also said the incidents were connected to an Oct. 8 incident in which an incendiary device was placed at a different ballot box in Vancouver.

PPB Assistant Chief Amanda McMillan released a statement regarding the act of arson, admitting that they didn't have a working motive as to why someone would do it.

"We don’t know the motive behind these acts," McMillan said. "We do know acts like this are targeted, and they're intentional, and we’re concerned about that intentional act trying to impact the election process. We’re dedicated to stopping this kind of behavior."

Vehicle identified

Police pointed to footage captured of a black or dark-colored Volvo S-60 that they believe is connected to both incidents.

There have been 3 attempts to burn ballots, by burning ballot drop boxes, in the northwest so far. Two in Vancouver Washington and one in Portland Oregon. They think the car involved is a 2001-2004 Volvo S-60. pic.twitter.com/gTGcczRbE0

— sez (@sezh00) October 29, 2024

Because of the federal implications, the FBI also released a statement on the incidents.

"The FBI is coordinating with federal, state and local partners to actively investigate the two incidents in Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of Monday, October 28th to determine who is responsible," the agency said.