Oct. 24 (UPI) — Police have arrested a suspect for allegedly starting a fire in a United States Postal Service mailbox in Central Phoenix that damaged a number of election ballots, officials announced Thursday. Fire investigators are investigating the incident, local media reported.
The fire was started in one of the well-recognized blue, drive-up USPS collection boxes.
The Phoenix Police Department responded to the call at about 1:20 a.m. Thursday, the department said in a statement. Officers arrested a suspect and identified him as 35-year-old Dieter Klofkorn, who was booked on one felony count of arson of property.
“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,” Phoenix police Sgt. Rob Scherer said in a statement.
Phoenix Police initially said there were about 20 ballots damaged by the fire but Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ office later said only five ballots were destroyed. He added that the number could still change.
“This deliberate act of vandalism undermines the integrity of our democratic process,” he said.
Voters who used that mailbox and are concerned about the status of their ballot can check the status of their ballots online. If voters believe their ballot was affected, they can ask questions of elections officials and could request a new ballot if it is determined that their original was destroyed.
The Maricopa County Recorder’s office is still waiting for more details on the incident.
Ballot drop boxes operated by Maricopa County have been equipped with fire suppression systems, which is not the case with the USPS blue collection boxes.
“Unfortunately, the United States Postal Service doesn’t have that,” Fontes said.