FBI warns of hoax Russian bomb threats at US polling places

ATLANTA, US (AFP) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned of bomb threats at polling places in “several” US states on a tense election day, adding that none were credible, but many appeared to be , came from Russia.

The FBI statement came after officials in the US state of Georgia said false bomb threats briefly disrupted voting there on Tuesday.

The 2024 US presidential campaign has been particularly volatile, and Election Day security has been heightened to unprecedented levels given concerns about potential civil unrest, voter fraud and violence against poll workers.

“The FBI is aware of bomb threats at polling places in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains,” spokeswoman Savannah Sims said in a statement.

“At this time, none of the threats have been determined to be credible,” she added, urging the public to “remain vigilant.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the state had also identified the source of bomb threats that briefly interrupted voting at polling places.

“It was from Russia,” he said, without elaborating.

At least seven polling stations in Georgia’s Fulton County were among those threatened and were briefly closed, South Fulton Mayor Kobe told AFP.

“None of the polling stations were closed for more than 30 minutes,” he told AFP outside one of them, Feldwood Elementary School in South Fulton.

“Some people are trying to discourage South Fulton residents from voting, but we are the blackest city in the United States,” he said.

“We are the descendants, sons and daughters of people who faced lynch mobs, water cannons… to exercise the right to vote. And so we won’t let bomb threats turn us back.”

With Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump deadlocked in the heat of the 2024 race, officials are seeking to reassure nervous Americans that their votes are safe. But they have also beefed up physical security for election operations across the country.

Poll workers were issued panic buttons, workers and special armed teams were deployed on rooftops, and hundreds of National Guard personnel were placed on standby.

The FBI set up a national election management headquarters in Washington to monitor threats around the clock throughout election week, and security was beefed up at many of the nearly 100,000 U.S. polling places.

US Capitol Police, who guard the House of Congress in Washington, said on social media site X on Tuesday that they had arrested a man who “smelled of fuel and was carrying a flashlight and a flare gun.”

He was stopped at the Capitol Visitor Center, part of the complex that Trump supporters stormed in a deadly insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, as they tried to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden.

The visitor center will remain “closed to tours throughout the day while we investigate,” the statement said.

The bomb threats were not the first time US officials have pointed the finger at Russian interference in the vote.

Hours before polls opened, officials warned that Russian-linked disinformation operations were falsely claiming that battleground states were attempting to fraudulently influence the outcome of the election.

And on Friday, U.S. intelligence officials accused Russia of producing a fake video in which a Haitian immigrant claims to have voted multiple times.

Previously, the United States imposed sanctions against Russian individuals and entities in connection with alleged attempts to interfere in the 2016, 2018 and 2020 elections.