Russia to blame for polling station bomb threat, says Georgia election chief
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued a statement after two locations were evacuated on Election Day.
A bomb threat to a Georgia polling station forced officials to evacuate voters on Election Day 2024, although it was quickly evaluated as non-credible.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger gave a press conference on Tuesday revealing that the bomb threat appeared to be of Russian origin.
“In the interest of public safety, you always check that out,” Georgia’s top election official confirmed.
The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains. None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far. https://t.co/j3YfajVK1m
— FBI (@FBI) November 5, 2024
“They’re up to mischief it seems,” he added, referencing suggestion of Russian interference. “They don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election.”
FBI confirms Russian involvement in election interference
In 2020 Raffersperger famously refused to “find 11,780 votes” as requested by then-President Donald Trump, enough to overturn Trump’s loss in the state. This time around he is already facing interference in the smooth running of the democratic process.
The FBI confirmed that many bomb threats had been sent to polling locations in a number of states, added that they “appear to originate from Russian email domains.”
Related stories
Nate Silver's view of the election
Rihanna won't be voting for Trump or Harris
“We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to respond to any threats to our elections and to protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote.”
Georgia, one of a handful of swing states for 2024, could prove crucial once again and it has been the target of numerous examples of election misinformation. A fake video claiming to show a Haitian immigrant boasting about voting multiple times was quickly dismissed as a Russian hoax in a statement from law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the United States.
Complete your personal details to comment