Voting has been suspended at a key swing state in the US Presidential Election due to a series of bomb threats.
According to a press release by the county, bomb threats were called in to five voting locations in Georgia’s DeKalb County, as well as two other locations that are not polling places.
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said: “Every asset that we have will be deployed to ensure that every citizen who wants to vote will be given that opportunity and every vote cast will be counted.”
A spokesperson from the county said voting was suspended at the five locations and added the county is going to court for an emergency order to extend voting hours at the affected polling places.
Precinct supervisors collect election materials from the DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections office
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The locations include a church, two libraries, a community center and a senior center. These bomb threats are in addition to the threats called in at other counties in Georgia that a US official told CNN were suspected to have originated from Russia and deemed non-credible.
Meanwhile, one senior Democrat in the state told CNN they are tracking threats in Atlanta right now, but the hope is that any voters who were apprehensive will return to vote.
Hoax bomb threats, many of which appeared to originate from Russian email domains, were directed at polling locations in four battleground states, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin, as Election Day voting was underway, the FBI said on Tuesday.
“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the FBI said in a statement, adding that election integrity was among the bureau’s highest priorities.
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Election workers distribute election supplies to precinct supervisors at the DeKalb County Voter Registration
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Ann Jacobs, head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said fake bomb threats were sent to two polling locations in the state capital of Madison, but did not disrupt voting.
A spokesperson for Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Democratic Secretary of State, said there had been reports of bomb threats at several polling locations, but none were credible.
Benson’s office had been notified that the threats may be tied to Russia, the spokesperson said.
An FBI official said that Georgia received more than two dozen threats, most of which occurred in Fulton County, which encompasses much of Atlanta, a Democratic stronghold.
Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blamed Russian interference for the Election Day bomb hoaxes.
A senior official in Raffensperger’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak freely, said the Georgia bomb hoaxes were sent from email addresses that had been used by Russians trying to interfere in previous US elections.
The threats were sent to US media and the two polling locations, the official said. “It’s a likelihood it’s Russia,” the official said.
The Russian embassy in Washington has denied any allegations of election interference.