Hoax bomb threats disrupt polling in key US states; Russian interference blamed

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Author: Tim Reid and Sarah N Lynch, Reuters,
Publish Date: Wed, 6 Nov 2024, 2:11pm

Hoax bomb threats, likely from Russian email domains, targeted polling locations in Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
The FBI said none of the threats were credible, and election integrity remains a top priority.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blamed Russian interference, citing more than two dozen threats in Georgia.

Hoax bomb threats, many of which appeared to originate from Russian email domains, have been directed at polling locations in three battleground states as election-day voting gets under way, the FBI says.

“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the FBI said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that election integrity was among the bureau’s highest priorities.

The states targeted by the hoax bomb threats were Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin, and at least two polling sites in Georgia were briefly evacuated on Tuesday.

Those two locations in Fulton County reopened after about 30 minutes, officials said, and the county was seeking a court order to extend the location’s voting hours past the 7pm deadline.

A person exits a voting booth after filling out their ballot at the Green Street Community Center in Concord, New Hampshire. Photo / AFP

Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blamed Russian interference for the election day bomb hoaxes.

“They’re up to mischief, it seems. They don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election, and if they can get us to fight among ourselves, they can count that as a victory,” Raffensperger told reporters.

The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters could not immediately determine how many hoax bomb threats were received in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Ann Jacobs, head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said fake bomb threats were sent to two polling locations in the state capital of Madison, but did not disrupt voting.

An FBI official said Georgia alone received more than two dozen, most of which occurred in Fulton County, which encompasses much of Atlanta, a Democratic stronghold.

A senior official in Raffensperger’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak freely, said the Georgia bomb hoaxes were sent from email addresses that had been used by Russians trying to interfere in previous US elections.

The threats were sent to US media and the two polling locations, the official said.

“[There’s] a likelihood it’s Russia,” the official said.

Democratic candidate and current US Vice-President Kamala Harris and Republican candidate and former US president Donald Trump are locked in a tight race to win the White House.

The phoney bomb threats mark the latest in a string of examples of alleged interference by the Russians in the 2024 election.

On November 1, US intelligence officials warned Russian actors manufactured a video that falsely depicted Haitians illegally casting ballots in Georgia.

Intelligence officials also found the Russians created a separate phoney video that falsely accused someone associated with the Harris presidential ticket of taking a bribe from an entertainer.

US intelligence officials have also accused Russia of interfering in previous US presidential elections, especially the 2016 race that Trump won against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

-Tim Reid and Sarah N Lynch, Reuters

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