- Officers believe the arsonist is an experienced metalworker.
The suspected arsonist behind a series of ballot box burnings could be planning more attacks in the run-up to the presidential election, police have warned.
It comes after ballot boxes were set on fire in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington.
Police said Wednesday that the attacker set the flames using incendiary devices marked “Free Palestine” and “Free Gaza.”
They believe he had “extensive experience” in metal work and welding, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner said.
Authorities described the suspect as a white man, between 30 and 40 years old, bald or with very short hair.
Authorities seen working to put out a fire at an urn in Vancouver, WA began early Monday morning. It was one of two fires set at two ballot boxes in two different states.
Police previously said surveillance video showed the man driving a black or dark-colored Volvo S-60, model 2001 to 2004.
The vehicle did not have a front license plate, but it did have a rear license plate with unknown letters or numbers.
Investigators are trying to identify the person responsible and the motive for the alleged arson attacks, which destroyed hundreds of ballots at a location in Vancouver, Washington, on Monday.
The mailbox fire suppression system did not function as intended.
Greg Kimsey, auditor-elect in Clark County, Washington, which includes Vancouver, said the exact number of ballots destroyed was unknown and that about 475 damaged ballots had been recovered from the box.
Authorities are trying to determine whether the person who left the devices actually held pro-Palestinian views or used the message to try to create confusion.
Investigators are searching for a suspicious vehicle, a black Volvo S-60, which was captured on security footage leaving the devices before they exploded at the polls.
Surveillance footage captured the Volvo stopping at a mailbox in Portland just before nearby security personnel discovered a fire inside the mailbox on Monday, according to Benner.
The early morning fire at the Portland mailbox was quickly extinguished thanks to a suppression system inside the mailbox, as well as a nearby security guard, police said.
Only three of the ballots inside were damaged.
On Wednesday, election staff planned to sort through damaged ballots to obtain information about who cast them, in hopes those voters can receive replacement ballots.
An image released by the Portland Police Bureau shows the urn after an “incendiary device” was discovered inside the urn causing a fire.
The ballot boxes were set on fire by an unknown arsonist in the Pacific Northwest on Monday.
Kimsey urged voters who dropped their ballots in the transit center drop box between Saturday morning and early Monday morning to contact his office for a replacement ballot.
Portland authorities said Monday that enough material was recovered from the incendiary devices to prove the two fires were connected.
They were also connected to an incendiary device left at a different ballot box in Vancouver on October 8.
No ballots were damaged in that incident.