The fire was started early Sunday in front of the downtown Boston Public Library.
The FBI is investigating a fire that started Sunday at a Boston ballot box containing more than 120 ballots, with Massachusetts election officials describing the incident as a “deliberate attack.”
The fire was started early Sunday outside the downtown Boston Public Library, according to the office of William Galvin, Massachusetts Secretary for the Commonwealth of Nations.
There were 122 ballots inside the ballot box when it was emptied on Sunday morning, and 35 were damaged, Galvin’s office said.
Galvin and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh called the incident “a disgrace to democracy, a disrespect to voters who discharge their civic duty and a crime.”
Local police said an arson investigation was underway and released footage of a person near the ballot box at the time of the blaze. Police urged the public to identify the individual.
Teams extinguished the fire by filling the ballot box with water, the Boston Police Department said in a statement.
“It is a top priority for our offices to help maintain the integrity of the electoral process in Massachusetts by aggressively enforcing federal election laws,” the FBI said in an announcement from the investigation.
Voters whose ballots have been affected can vote in person or via a replacement ballot that will be mailed to them, officials said.
Early voting began last Saturday in Massachusetts, and more than 2 million residents have already voted in person or by mail.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
