A recent string of ballot box fires in the Pacific Northwest may have been committed by anti-Israel protesters after the message “Free Gaza” was found on the incendiary devices used in the attacks. 

The most recent ballot box blitzes occurred on Monday morning between 3a.m. and 4a.m. in Portland, Oregon and 15 miles away in Vancouver, Washington. The attacks are believed to be connected to an earlier incident that also took place in Vancouver.

Investigators are reportedly looking into whether the arsonists were in fact anti-Israel activists or other actors looking to “sow discord,” anonymous sources told the New York Times. 

“Our officers quickly determined that there was an incendiary device that had been attached to the ballot box, and that is what ignited this fire,” a spokesman for Portland’s Police Bureau, Mike Benner, said at a press briefing on Monday. 

In Oregon, a fire suppressant inside the ballot box protected “virtually all the ballots” save for three, which suffered damage, according to a statement released by the Multnomah County Elections Division. Those voters are being contacted so they can receive replacement ballots. 

“Voters should be assured that even if their ballots were in the affected box, their votes will be counted,” the Elections Division stated. 

Oregon’s Secretary of State, LaVonne Griffin-Valade, called the ballot fires “an attack on our democracy and completely unacceptable,” in a statement released on Monday. “Whatever the motivation behind this incident, there is no justification for any attempt to disenfranchise voters,” she added. 

The fire in Vancouver, however, is believed to have led to the damage of “hundreds” of ballots, Clark County’s auditor, Greg Kimsey, stated at a press briefing. Though fire suppression devices were also positioned in the county’s ballot boxes, they failed to work properly, Mr. Kimsey added. 

Vancouver, the largest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, is poised to have one of the most competitive House races of the election. First-term Democratic representative, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, is running against a Republican challenger, Joe Kent, who has been backed by President Trump. 

Mr. Kimsey is advising voters who dropped their ballots in the transit center box after 11a.m. on Saturday to request a replacement ballot. He also said that the office will speed up their ballot collection process, to prevent full ballot boxes from sitting overnight, and will station around-the-clock ballot box observers from now until the election.

The attacks are believed to be linked to an earlier ballot box fire also  in Vancouver, Washington. The slogans “Free Gaza” and “Free Palestine” were written on the device responsible for the October 8 incident. 

According to Mr. Benner, “There was enough evidence collected at all three scenes that lead us to believe that all three incidents are connected.” All of the attacks employed similar incendiary devices which, after being attached to the ballot box, were able to heat up the ballots inside until they caught fire. 

The devices are currently being examined by forensic analysts for “unique writings and markings,” the Portland Police Bureau told CNN.