Editor’s Note: This article was written before the 2024 presidential election.
As Election Day arrives, many people are filling out absentee ballots and leaving them in ballot boxes all over the country. However, following the recent opening of the ballot boxes is the start of something else, the burning of these ballot boxes in three different locations. This has raised concerns over being able to properly count votes and whether ballot boxes will continue to be targeted as the election season continues, resulting in a more difficult election.
The first location that was hit was Portland, Oregon where the fire suppression system in the ballot box worked to save all except three ballots. The second blaze was in Vancouver, Washington. Though the ballot boxes have a fire suppression system, the system did not work effectively at this targeted location, resulting in hundreds of ballots being lost to the blaze. Therefore, many locals are being told to check their ballot status and if their ballot was not received to file for a new one or vote in person. After investigating both blazes, it was found that these incidents were linked in some capacity to an incendiary device placed in both ballot boxes.
The suspects behind both blazes are yet to be taken into custody. However, local voter registration services plan to help the people whose ballots were lost get replacements so they can still vote in the election. Indoor boxes are also almost constantly monitored by workers and the time for collections is being changed to minimize the incident happening again.
This comes on the wave of fear of ballot boxes during the 2020 election. There were many voters who thought the boxes would lead to fraud and miscounting of votes. However, as many officials have stated, the ballot boxes are constantly monitored by a person or a camera. This means that no one can get away with voting multiple times and is ensured to be the one placing their vote in the box. Therefore, the uptick of fear about who could be behind these blazes or be made a target is unnecessary. Thus, there is becoming a deeper discussion of how media plays into fear-mongering, especially within election seasons that can result in behavior such as this.
Moving forward, there is likely to be more security measures taken with mail-in-ballots potentially with 24/7 monitoring with cameras potentially. In addition, this will likely cause more fear about using mail-in-ballots. People may think they are now more susceptible to being tampered with and so there may be increased in-person voting.
Overall, though this may make students wary to vote, it is important to exercise the right to vote especially in a presidential election. There are many securities in place and being further implemented to ensure your vote is counted. Though this raises concern for the fact they seem linked, this should not stop you from going out and voting during the election season.