Polling locations in multiple swing states were subject to bomb threats on Election Day, leading some to temporarily close down as officials investigated the reports.
Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a Tuesday night press briefing that the bomb threats called into multiple polling locations in the state posed no credible threat to the public.
And Tuesday afternoon, Georgia's Fulton County Police Chief W. Wade Yates said during a press conference that there were 32 bomb threats to various polling locations in the area, with 27 of them being cleared "very quickly." The other five prompted temporary closures of the polling locations as officials investigated the claims.
Yates said it was unclear where the threats came from at this point in the active investigation. But Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters earlier Tuesday bomb threats that the source of the bomb threats were "from Russia."
"They’re up to mischief, it seems, and they don't want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election," he added. "Anything that can get us to fight amongst ourselves, they can count that as a victory."
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Also in an afternoon news conference on Election Day, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said four polling locations in Navajo County had received "unsubstantiated" bomb threats and that there was "no reason to believe any voters or polling places are in jeopardy." He also pointed to the same source as Georgia whom he said state and federal law enforcement agencies believe prompted the false reports.
"This is another, we believe, probing attack," Fontes said. "We also have reason to believe — although I won't get into specifics — that this comes from one of our foreign enemies, namely Russia."
Fontes linked the hoax threats in Navajo County to others reported out of Georgia, Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin on Tuesday — which all are considered key battleground states.
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He also said Russia has been "busy" lately, which may be a reference to a different Russian disinformation video that was going after him and Arizona's Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. That video said that the pair were rigging the election in Arizona in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Federal officials in the intelligence community say Arizona and other key battleground states are ground zero for Russia's disinformation campaigns.
Earlier Tuesday, the head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reiterated that there was a force of disinformation that Russia, China and Iran are trying to use to influence the elections in the U.S.
