KATU was on the scene at Fisher's Landing Transit Center in Vancouver early Monday morning, where heavy smoke was seen coming from inside a dropoff ballot box.

Our photographer captured grey smoke steadily billowing out of the Park and Ride ballot box at Fisher's Landing Transit Center near Southeast 162nd Avenue just after 6 a.m.

Multiple police units were in the area, and the ballot box was cordoned off by police tape as it continued to smoke.

Around 6:30 a.m., KATU captured footage of first responders releasing a pile of actively burning ballots onto the ground, which continued to smolder and smoke heavily even after the flames were put out.

The Clark County elections auditor told us that the last ballot pickup at that location was 8 a.m. Sunday. Hundreds of ballots were inside at the time of the burning, and KATU was told there were maybe only a few that could be saved.

Voters who dropped off ballots at that location after 11 a.m. Saturday need to contact the Election Auditor's Office IMMEDIATELY for a new ballot.

A link to the Clark County Elections page, with contact information for the Auditor's Office, can be found

Vancouver Police released the following statement at 9 a.m.:

This morning at about 4:00 a.m., Vancouver Police responded to an arson at a ballot box located at 3510 SE 164th Ave. It was reported that the ballot box was smoking and on fire. Officers arrived and located a suspicious device next to the box. The ballot box was smoking and was on fire. Members of the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit (MEDU) arrived and safely collected the device, and the fire was extinguished. Detectives from the Vancouver Police Arson team and the Vancouver Fire Marshals also responded.

The FBI is continuing the investigation of this incident.

Just a few hours earlier, Portland police had responded to an arson at a SE Portland ballot box.

Investigators say that an incendiary device was set off inside the box, causing a fire.

The fire was extinguished and the device was cleared, and the PPB is investigating the incident. The status of the ballots in the burned box has not been provided.

Editor's note: The Clark County Auditor's Office originally told KATU the last ballot pick-up had been 8 a.m. Sunday. They later corrected this to 11 a.m. Saturday.