Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
As the United States approaches the 2024 presidential election on November 5, polls show a closely contested race between Democratic candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.
The closeness of the race appears to be leading thugs to resort to desperate measures, such as setting fire to ballot boxes in areas they believed their opponents had an upper hand.
With less than a week to go, both candidates are actively campaigning in key battleground states to secure last-minute support.
Credit: Shealah Craighead, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Recent national polls indicate a slight edge for Harris in some Democratic-leaning states, while Trump continues to dominate in traditionally Republican areas.
However, the polling averages in critical swing states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona show a virtual tie, suggesting that these states will play a decisive role in the election outcome.
Both candidates have amplified their key campaign messages: Harris focuses on social justice, climate action, and expanding healthcare, whereas Trump emphasizes a hardline stance on immigration and economic revival.
Recent polls indicated that voters are concerned about the health of American democracy, with around 80 per cent expressing anxiety over the country’s direction.
With election day drawing near, the race remains unpredictable, with each campaign pushing hard to sway undecided voters and secure their path to the White House for the next four years.
Ballot drop boxes in Portland, Oregon, and in nearby Vancouver, Washington, were set on fire by arsonists.
The Portland Police Bureau reported that officers and firefighters responded to a fire in one ballot drop box at about 3:30 a.m. and determined an incendiary device had been placed inside.
Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said a fire suppressant inside the drop box protected nearly all the ballots; only three were damaged, and his office planned to contact those voters to help them obtain replacement ballots.
A few hours later, across the Columbia River in Vancouver, television crews captured footage of smoke pouring out of a ballot box at a transit centre.
Vancouver is the biggest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, the site of what is expected to be one of the closest U.S. House races in the country, between first-term Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent.
“Heartbreaking,” Kimsey said. “It’s a direct attack on democracy.”
There were surveillance cameras that covered the drop box and surrounding area, he said.
The last ballot pickup at the transit centre drop box was at 11 a.m. Saturday, Kimsey said. Anyone who dropped their ballot there after that was urged to contact the auditor’s office to obtain a new one.
The office will be increasing how frequently it collects ballots, Kimsey said, and changing collection times to the evening, to keep the ballot boxes from remaining full of ballots overnight when similar crimes are considered more likely to occur.
In Phoenix last week, officials said roughly five ballots were destroyed and others damaged when a fire was set in a drop box at a U.S. Postal Service station there.
