I have written this piece for MSNBC Opinion. A snippet:

Voters in Oregon and Washington are lucky enough to live in states with excellent election administration, including elaborate systems to track the path of one’s ballot from the time it is sent to a voter until the time it is received by election officials. Voters who might have put their ballots in one of the affected ballot boxes will have ample opportunity to contact election officials and get and then cast replacement ballots, assuring that they won’t be disenfranchised by this despicable antidemocratic act.

But there could be other attempts to interfere with the 2024 election over the next week that might not be so easily remedied. (One of the final episodes of the television show “Succession” features a not-implausible fire that destroys 100,000 uncounted mail-in ballots in Milwaukee, with grave, albeit fictional, electoral consequences.) And even if there aren’t large-scale attacks on our election processes, even the fear of violence or interference could deter people from voting. In 2022, for example, vigilantes patrolled a ballot drop box area in Arizona before a federal court enjoined the intimidating conduct. We don’t know what individuals or groups have planned for this time, but government officials are warning of possible extremist violence.

The potential for violent escalation makes it crucial for law enforcement to make the investigation and prosecution of Monday’s ballot attacks a priority. The FBI says it is coordinating with local authorities, which is the right move. We need law enforcement to act vigorously to identify the perpetrators of these crimes and bring them to justice.

There are a number of federal statutes that could be used to charge arsonists who burn ballots, including one that bars the destruction or mutilation of ballots and another that bars using force to interfere with voting. State laws also classify ballot burning and similar activities as crimes. Washington state, for example, prohibits tampering with voting materials and devices used in voting. Oregon law provides that a person “may not willfully alter or destroy a ballot cast at an election or the returns of an election.”