In the early hours of Oct. 28 a mysterious grey Volvo, later spotted on security cameras, was seen at two ballot drop boxes in the Pacific Northwest. Later that day, Portland and Vancouver police found burnt and fiery ballot boxes. Many of the ballots in Vancouver were unrecognizable and required contacting those who submitted them. Most of the Portland ballots were able to be salvaged.
However, local officials were quick to say that this act could not be brushed off lightly, as Americans are already worried about their country’s polarization. Many feel the future could look apocalyptic depending on who’s in power, and even more are concerned about maintaining free, fair elections.
Extreme acts of political intimidation like these cause more and more Americans to fear for the future of their country. In just the past four years, the country has seen a storm on its capital, a near-assassination of a presidential candidate and now an attack on and destruction of valid ballots.
The Wolf sat down with Christopher Duke, a government and economics teacher at Tualatin.
“For a variety of reasons, we have seen an erosion in the trust that Americans feel for their election system,” Duke explained. “With this particular incident of people burning ballot boxes, a lot of that [faith in democracy] is shaken.”
A survey and study done by Chapman University polled people on campus about what most concerned them for the future of America. The most common answer – with 65 percent in agreement – was corrupt government officials. As Duke highlighted, the country has entered a fragile, distrusting period, and many are scared corruption will become more prevalent.
As for the attacks on ballot boxes, the person in that grey Volvo has not yet been caught, as of press time. Law enforcement officials say justice will be served once they are, as each of the tarnished ballots counts as a crime, along with arson.
“A step forward is not allowing this person to get what they want, to undermine our system, to not let us cast our votes,” Duke said.
In a time of uncertainty and division, many Americans would agree that a start in the right direction is to unite on the fact that this act is unacceptable.
The act of destroying ballots leaves citizens feeling disgust and discomfort. It could easily snowball into harsh problems if not taken seriously. There may not be a final solution in sight, however.
“The path forward has to be one in which we can disagree with each other, and disagree with each other strongly, because that’s important in a democracy where everyone can get a say, and it is clear the person who burnt those ballots disagrees with that,” Duke said.
Certainly the Founding Fathers’ vision for democracy was to be one in which citizens’ votes are valued and respected.
