VOLVO SOUGHT IN BALLOT BOX FIRES: Hundreds of ballots awaiting pickup in Vancouver, Wash., were destroyed in the wee hours of Oct. 28 in an arson fire that left a ballot box smoking. A second box in front of the Multnomah County Elections Division was also set on fire that night, but the box’s fire suppression device released a dry suppressant that protected all but three of the ballots inside. The Elections Division is contacting the three affected voters. Voters who dropped their ballots off at the affected Vancouver location after 11 am Saturday should check their ballots’ status and, if they don’t appear as received, request new ones. Officials in Multnomah and Clark counties are pursuing a joint investigation, aided by the FBI, and believe the two incidents are linked. The suspect vehicle is a black or dark-colored Volvo S60 with a model year between 2001 and 2004. Both counties have plans to monitor the boxes 24 hours a day, and many officials deemed the arson fires as attacks on democracy. The ballot box in Vancouver is in one of the most hotly contested congressional districts in the nation. “I want every voter to be able to vote and do that safely,” said Multnomah County elections director Tim Scott.