The ballot drop boxes in Washington and Oregon both have fire suppression systems that are designed to activate when the temperature inside reaches a certain point, coating ballots inside with a fire-suppressing powder.
For unknown reasons, the system failed to prevent the destruction of hundreds of ballots in Vancouver, just across the Columbia River from Portland.
This response is so wild to me. Nobody even needs to talk to a cop. Having an additional drop off location at a police station is more convenient than not having it. Walk into building, put envelope in box, walk out. Makes sense for any government funded building that’s already required to be staffed 24/7 and monitored by CCTV, the police department included.