Hundreds of ballots were damaged in Vancouver and Portland after an attack on ballot boxes

Two ballot boxes were vandalized during early Monday morning in the cities of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, local authorities confirmed.

In particular, the attack on the ballot box in Vancouver was the most serious, as it potentially damaged "hundreds" of ballots in Clark county, a conservative-leaning county that borders Portland, where only three ballots were affected.

According to NBC News, an "identical" Volvo was identified at both scenes and the vandalism was caused through an "incendiary device" of a "similar" nature in both cities, the respective police departments reported.

The Portland Police Bureau described the act as selective and intentional and reported that an "incendiary device" was placed inside a sidewalk ballot box in the Central City district.

Officers responded to the alert at 3:30 a.m. local time, but security personnel in the area had already successfully extinguished the fire.

"Officers determined an incendiary device was placed inside the ballot box and used to ignite the fire," read a Portland Police statement.

Portland election officials said citizens need to have confidence and certainty that their votes will be counted on Election Day.

In a statement, the Multnomah County elections office reported that "the fire suppressant inside the ballot box protected virtually all the ballots."

"Voters should be assured that even if their ballots were in the affected box, their votes will be counted," the statement read.

Half an hour after the Portland attack, around 4 a.m. local time, Vancouver police responded to a report of a fire at a ballot box.

Authorities said officers arrived on scene and located a "suspicious device" next to the box. The fire was extinguished and the city's Metro Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit picked up the "incendiary device."

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey said that, because of the fire damage, anyone who placed a ballot in the vandalized ballot box after 11 a.m. Saturday should contact the office to confirm the status of their ballot.

Authorities have not yet given a specific motive to explain the attack.

The attack in Vancouver takes on significance because of its location, as it is in Washington's third congressional district, where Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez faces Republican Joe Kent, backed by Donald Trump, in an extremely tight race for a House seat.

Following the attack, Perez said he requested an overnight presence of agents at all Clark County polling places through Election Day.

"Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence," the Democrat said in a statement Monday.

For his part, Kent said on X that he is confident authorities "will stop whoever attacked our democratic process."

"Stay focused on driving voter turn out & early voting, don’t be deterred from voting by a cowardly act of terrorism," he stated.