By Amanda Brucculeri and Grace Choi
Boston University News Service
A series of bomb threats were sent to multiple polling locations in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia, just hours before polls were set to close.
In Pennsylvania, locations in Bucks, Delaware, Philadelphia and Chester Counties were targeted with what appeared to be hoaxes sent via email, causing at least nine polling locations to evacuate as police investigated.
Voters called to extend voting hours past 8 p.m, to account for the time spent evacuating. One of the locations was ordered to stay open an extra 23 minutes, while others were only briefly interrupted as K-9s swept the properties.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told the public that there was no credibility behind these threats, and there was no proof that the sender of the emails had any actual plans to act on the threats.
Election offices in Arizona, including those in La Paz and Navajo Counties, also received an emailed bomb threat that led to an immediate evacuation of voters. This will likely delay delivery of the county’s ballots.
Russia is blamed for the threats, according to the Washington Post. However, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, whose office oversees elections, said that state officials deemed them to be “not credible.”
Georgia polling stations experienced similar bomb threats, also allegedly from a Russian email domain. Polling stations in Union City, just outside of Atlanta, were forced to temporarily close and extend their hours. According to Fulton County Police, a total of 32 bomb threats were made.
In the final hours of the election, these bomb threats delayed the final vote count of the 2024 presidential race.
