Oregon voters warned against using Marcola mailboxes to send ballots after key stolen from USPS

On Monday, election officials in Lane County, Oregon informed the public not to use two United States Postal Service (USPS) mailboxes in Marcola to drop mail-in ballots after it was discovered that a key used to open the mailboxes was stolen during a break-in at the city’s post office overnight.

The USPS mailboxes are located in front of the Marcola post office and at the end of Mohawk River Road. Election officials urged voters to use official ballot drop boxes instead. The news comes after incendiary devices were set off earlier in the day at two ballot drop boxes, one in Portland and another in nearby Vancouver, Washington, destroying hundreds of ballots.

Lane County Clerk Dena Dawson said, “Although this does not appear to be related to the election, we are being cautious and asking voters in Marcola not to return their ballots using these mailboxes. Instead, they can use the official ballot drop box at Mohawk Marketplace on the way into town,” Lane County Clerk Dena Dawson said in a statement.

Voters are encouraged to track their ballot and if they do not see their ballot marked as received by Lane County Elections within a day or two, should call or visit Lane County Elections to request a new ballot.

Greg Kimsey, the auditor in Clark County, Washington, told KOMO News that the attacks on the Vancouver drop boxes are “a direct attack on democracy.”

Kimsey added that the office will be increasing the frequency of ballot collections to keep ballot boxes from remaining full of ballots overnight when similar crimes are more likely to occur. Late Monday, law enforcement revealed that the arsons were connected. The FBI is currently assisting local law enforcement with the investigation.

Democratic Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, who is currently running for re-election, said, following the incident, that he had “complete confidence in our county elections official's ability to keep Washington's elections safe and secure for all voters.”

Democratic Governor Jay Inslee posted on X, “This was a violent attack on democracy, and we will do everything to keep our election system strong and secure in Washington.”

Neither mentioned any plans to address the security concerns regarding drop boxes or ballots. Last week ballots were damaged and destroyed In Phoenix when a fire was set to a drop box at a US Postal Service station.