‘Smells like MAGA to me’: Ballot box fires might just be the hot new election tactic

The coordinated attacks on ballot boxes in Vancouver and Portland early Monday morning represent the latest escalation in what appears to be a systematic attempt to undermine electoral infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest.

At Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver, arsonists destroyed hundreds of ballots when they torched a ballot drop box around 4 a.m. This attack connects to two other incidents—another ballot box burning in Southeast Portland the same morning and an earlier scorching attempt in Vancouver on October 8. In one tweet, @zorekrichards said, “Smells like Maga to me.”

The timing and methodology—an unspecified incendiary device—reveal a calculated effort to sow chaos just days before the November 5 election. The perpetrators appear to have committed arson during off-hours when detection would likely be minimal—and damage would be certain and at a maximum—suggesting premeditation rather than a random act of vandalism.

This systematic assault on voting access goes into the bucket of a broader pattern of anti-democratic actions emerging from far-right corners, where electoral defeats have increasingly met with undemocratic responses rather than reflection. The targeting of literal ballot boxes—symbols of authentic democratic participation—particularly resonates with authoritarian (and nihilistic) impulses to restrict and control voting methods. The essential idea is, ‘We can’t lose if you can’t win.’

As the FBI investigates these connected attacks, the broader implications remain as clear as day: the far-right can see their futures being narrowed or foreclosed in such a way that it would force a reflection they are actively trying to avoid at all costs. These are not merely acts of vandalism but calculated strikes against democracy and any infrastructure furthering positive progress. These acts represent a growing desperation of those who see can their political futures evaporating into the ether.