The US Election Day was marred by hoax bomb threats in multiple states, media reports said. Bomb threats in parts of Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania turned out to be hoaxes but led to evacuations and caused some polling places to extend their hours.
Throughout the day, bomb threats were reported at polling locations in three metro Atlanta counties with large Democratic voter populations. Later in the evening, threats targeted polling sites and election offices where ballot counting was underway in Pennsylvania. In addition, the Arizona Secretary of State’s office reported bomb threats at three voting locations in Navajo County.
Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro later said that the hoaxes posed no danger to the public – or to the election. “Every legal, eligible vote will be counted and counted accurately, and the will of the people in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be respected,” he said.
In Georgia’s Fulton County, home to Atlanta, bomb threats were reported at 32 of 177 polling locations, with five sites briefly evacuated. The polling places were able to reopen once the threats were cleared.
The FBI reported on Tuesday that many of the hoax bomb threats in multiple states appeared to originate from Russian email domains.
Trump calls out ‘massive cheating’
As Election Day voting neared its end, former US President Donald Trump began making unsubstantiated claims regarding voting, ballot counting, and law enforcement. On his social media platform, he mentioned “talk about massive cheating in Philadelphia” and claimed that law enforcement was on the way.
He provided no further details, and there was no immediate clarification on his remarks. His spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment on his statements.
(With AP inputs)