Ballot drop boxes, long a target of misinformation, face physical threats

With Election Day nearing, authorities in Oregon and Washington have opened investigations and stepped up security measures after two ballot drop boxes were set ablaze on Monday. 

Three ballots were damaged after an incendiary device was found inside a ballot box in Portland, Oregon, on Monday. And on the same day, officials feared hundreds of ballots were damaged by a fire in a ballot box in nearby Vancouver, Washington. Police said a “suspicious device” was found next to the box. 

Ballot drop boxes have historically been targets of misinformation, according to experts, who say the false claims surged in 2020 when then-President Donald Trump raised doubts about the security of mail-in ballots. Drop boxes are now facing growing physical threats, according to election officials and internal U.S. government warnings. 

U.S. intelligence officials said “domestic violent extremists” may target ballot drop boxes because of their accessibility, according to internal reports issued by the Department of Homeland Security and FBI in the months leading up to the election. 

The DHS report said social media users discussed methods for damaging  ballots and ballot drop boxes, such as using road flares or gasoline. The intelligence reports were first obtained under open records law by Property of the People, a nonprofit that focuses on governmental transparency and national security.

The incidents in Oregon and Washington are not the first time ballot drop boxes have been the target of attacks. Ahead of Election Day 2020, ballot drop boxes were also set alight in two separate incidents in Massachusetts and California. 

A drop box is a secure container for mail-in ballots, providing an alternative to mailing ballots through the U.S. Postal Service. Outdoor boxes are typically tamper-proof and anchored, with secured locks and other safety features, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The agency is part of the DHS and focuses on federal cybersecurity while working to protect against security risks related to the 2024 election.

CISA also said outdoor drop boxes often have features to prevent fire and water damage.

Officials said fire suppressant protected nearly all the ballots in the Oregon drop box. While the ballot box in Washington also had a fire suppression system, Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey told the Associated Press the system was not effective. 

Indoor boxes are generally monitored by trained workers and video surveillance, CISA said. Ballots in drop boxes can only be accessed by election officials, often bipartisan collection teams, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which supports state and local election officials.

Misinformation targeting ballot drop boxes

Election infrastructure has been a focal point for misinformation, including in 2020 when the drop boxes became an increasingly popular option for voters to submit their mail ballots amid the pandemic. 

Paul Gronke, a professor of political science at Reed College and director of the Elections and Voting Information Center, said ballot drop boxes became a major target of misinformation in 2020 when Trump repeatedly raised doubts and suspicions about drop boxes and mail-in ballots as part of his false claim that the 2020 election was “stolen.” 

In August 2020, Trump called drop boxes a “voter security disaster,” but he eventually embraced mail voting in 2024, and it’s been used by millions of voters of both parties this year. 

Misleading claims and videos have spread widely on social media. In one example, social media users claimed footage of a woman placing at least three ballots into a drop box in Ohio in October 2020 was evidence of mail ballot fraud. But election officials said it’s not illegal to place multiple ballots in the box in Ohio as long as they are all from family members. 

Such examples are often pointed to as evidence that ballot drop boxes are a problem; however, experts say drop boxes offer a reliable and secure way to safeguard ballots, and that there is little to no evidence that they have been used for voter fraud. 

Gronke says the physical attacks on drop boxes are likely related to the pervasive misinformation circulating since 2020. 

“Unfortunately, we’re in a place right now in some parts of America where people feel sufficiently frustrated, angered, and outraged by some of the misinformation that they hear,” Gronke said.

Drop boxes are permitted in 27 states and the District of Columbia, while 12 states have banned them, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Each state has its own rules for securing drop boxes.

States and counties also have systems in place to keep track of every ballot sent out and received back, says CBS News election law contributor David Becker. 

In both Washington and Oregon, election officials said voters whose ballots were damaged would receive replacement ballots. 

“We have multiple systems and security measures in place to ensure your ballot is safe,” Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said in a statement. “Your Elections team is working hard to make sure that every vote counts.”

“We take the safety of our election workers seriously and will not tolerate threats or acts of violence that seek to undermine the democratic process,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said about the incident in Vancouver. 

contributed to this report.