Amid the ongoing US presidential elections, polling stations in critical battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, received bomb threats on Tuesday. Though the threats were ultimately found to be hoaxes, they forced temporary evacuations and slowed down the voting process at some locations.
Polling sites in multiple Atlanta-area counties, heavily populated with Democratic voters, were among those affected. The threats extended into Pennsylvania, where evacuations were ordered at several sites. Arizona’s Navajo County also experienced similar disruptions, according to reports from the Secretary of State’s office.
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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro acknowledged the bomb threats but reassured voters that none posed a real danger.
Every legal, eligible vote will be counted accurately, and the will of Pennsylvania’s people will be respected, Shapiro said.
In Georgia’s Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, threats were reported at 32 out of 177 polling locations, resulting in brief evacuations at five sites. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger affirmed Georgia’s commitment to a safe voting process, stating, “Georgia’s not gonna be intimidated’. The FBI later traced the origin of the threats to Russian email domains.
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(With agency inputs)