An Arizona ballot box was set on fire, damaging the twenty electoral ballots and disrupting the voting process.
The Phoenix Fire Department responded to a call at 1:30 a.m. on Thursday after someone lit a ballot box containing mail-in ballots. The ballots ruined in the fire were sent to the postal inspector for investigation. Investigators also collected surveillance video from the scene and sent it to the Phoenix Fire Investigations Task Force.
“The Postal Inspector took possession of the damaged ballots and mail,” explained Phoenix Fire Capt. Rob McDade. “The Phoenix Fire Investigations Task Force, which includes Phoenix Police detectives and Phoenix Fire investigators, are working with US Postal Inspectors. Approximately 20 electoral ballots were damaged, along with additional miscellaneous mail. The Postal Inspector took possession of the damaged ballots and mail.”
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego confirmed that the suspect has been arrested and identified as 35-year-old Dieter Bradford Klofkorn. She suggested that the incident was random and not politically motivated.
“Klofkorn was located and arrested for an outstanding and unrelated arrest warrant. While in custody, he was interviewed about his involvement in the arson. Klofkorn admitted to committing the arson,” the police report stated. “Klofkorn stated that he committed the arson because he wanted to be arrested and that his actions were not politically motivated and not related to anything involving the upcoming election.”
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called the incident a “deliberate act of vandalism that undermines the integrity of our democratic process.”
Officials are encouraging voters who have put their ballots in the box in the past 36 hours to check the status of their ballots to ensure they have been successfully delivered.
Arizona is a crucial battleground state with 11 electoral votes up for grabs that could swing the election in either candidate’s direction. It opened up early in-person voting before any other critical state in the country.
According to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, more than 30 million Americans have cast ballots in the first weeks of early voting. North Carolina has passed its 2020 record on the first day of early voting, exceeding the 1 million ballot mark. Georgia surpassed North Carolina's record with 2,368,812 people who voted on the first day polls opened.
Former President Donald Trump took the lead in North Carolina and Nevada in the first few days early voting opened, a historically unusual trend.