Ballot damaged after mailbox set on fire in swing state: What we know

At least a dozen ballots were damaged after an unknown person set fire to a mailbox in Phoenix, the largest city in the battleground state of Arizona, officials said.

The person allegedly set fire to the mailbox at a post office at 3905 North 7th Avenue early Thursday morning, the Phoenix Fire Department wrote in a statement Newsweek. Firefighters forcibly opened the mailbox and extinguished the fire. They discovered that ballots and other mail were damaged.

Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, announced on X (formerly Twitter) that a suspect had been arrested in connection with the fire.

Local news station KSAZ-TV reported that a total of 20 ballots were damaged in the fire, which is still being investigated by local firefighters and U.S. postal inspectors.

Foreign Minister Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, wrote in a statement Newsweek that many undamaged ballots have been recovered and affected voters will be contacted to “ensure they can cast their vote.”

“Any attack that impacts our democratic process will have criminal consequences. Voting abuse is a felony in Arizona and mailbox vandalism is a federal crime,” Fontes said.

Ballot drop boxes in Arizona are equipped with “security controls to prevent and detect physical attacks,” Fontes said.

Maricopa County Registrar Stephen Richer said in the statement that authorities are awaiting further details about the ballots from law enforcement and encouraged all voters who used the drop box in the past 36 hours to check the status of their ballots online .

“Successful delivery will usually be reflected on this website within 72 hours. Voters should be aware that tomorrow, October 25, is the last day to request a replacement ballot,” he said.

Gallego wrote in a post to

“There is zero tolerance for criminal activity in our community and we work with all levels of government to bring the perpetrator to justice,” she wrote.

Newsweek I emailed the Arizona Secretary of State for comment.

Arizona is one of the most closely watched states of the election cycle. It is roughly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, and polls suggest a neck-and-neck race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

FiveThirtyEight poll results on Thursday showed Trump with a 1.8-point lead over Harris; A month earlier, on September 24, he had a 1.2 point lead in the race. Trump will campaign later Thursday in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe.

There is also a closely contested Senate race in Arizona between Democrat Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake. FiveThirtyEight’s polling aggregate showed Gallego ahead of Lake by 6.8 points as of Thursday.

In 2020, Arizona was one of the lowest-voting states, supporting President Joe Biden by 0.3 percent, or 10,457 votes.