More Than 20 Ballots Damaged After Phoenix USPS Mailbox is Set on Fire

A fire inside a USPS collection box in Phoenix damaged more than 20 electoral ballots early Thursday morning. The incident occurred near 7th Avenue and Indian School Road, with firefighters responding to the scene at around 1:20 a.m.

Phoenix Fire Captain Rob McDade said an individual started the fire inside the drive-up mailbox. Fire crews forced open the mailbox and quickly put out the flames. However, several ballots and additional pieces of mail were damaged.

Thursday afternoon, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego shared on X that an arrest had been made. Later,  Phoenix Police identified the suspect as 35-year-old Dieter Bradford Klofkorn.

At the scene, reporters noted the charred mailbox and saw investigators removing mail, including green envelopes commonly used for ballots in Arizona.

“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,” read Phoenix Police’s statement. “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.”

Thanks to swift action by @PhoenixPolice, @PHXFire and federal partners, we have arrested the suspect involved in this incident. https://t.co/DRkqz06All

— Mayor Kate Gallego (@MayorGallego) October 24, 2024

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer has encouraged voters who used that collection box in the last 36 hours to check the status of their ballots on BeBallotReady.Vote. The site typically updates ballot statuses within 72 hours. He also reminded voters that the deadline to request a replacement ballot is October 25. Anyone who thinks their ballot may have been impacted can request a new one at Request.Maricopa.Vote.

The Postal Inspector has taken possession of the damaged mail, and the Phoenix Fire Investigations Task Force is working with local police and U.S. Postal Inspectors to further investigate the incident.