Non-credible bomb threats that temporarily disrupted voting at some polling locations in Georgia originated from Russia, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters on Tuesday.
“We’ve heard some threats that were of Russian origin,” he said, noting that “in the interest of public safety, we always check that out, and we’ll just continue to be very responsible when we hear about stuff like that.”
The threats briefly caused the closure of polling places in Fulton County as those on the premises were evacuated.
The threats, which were deemed to be non-credible, targeted five polls in total, according to Fulton County Director of Registration and Elections Nadine Williams. The Etris-Darnell Community Center and C.H. Gullatt Elementary School were evacuated for about 30 minutes but are open to voters again, she said.
The county is seeking a court order to extend the two polling locations’ hours past the statewide 7 p.m. deadline to compensate for the disruption, Williams said. (Atlanta News First)
“FBI is aware of several bomb threats that have been made around the state of Georgia," the agency said in a statement, according to CNN. "Election integrity and protecting our community is our highest priority, and the FBI is working closely with state and local law enforcement partners to respond to election threats and protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote."
Raffensperger said Russia did not want Americans to "have a smooth, fair, and accurate election."
“Anything that can get us to fight amongst ourselves — they can count that as a victory," he argued.
In a statement on Monday night, the intelligence community warned about foreign actors interfering in the election.
"[T]he IC has been observing foreign adversaries, particularly Russia, conducting additional influence operations intended to undermine public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans," the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a joint statement. "The IC expects these activities will intensify through election day and in the coming weeks, and that foreign influence narratives will focus on swing states.
"Russia is the most active threat," the statement continued. "Influence actors linked to Russia in particular are manufacturing videos and creating fake articles to undermine the legitimacy of the election, instill fear in voters regarding the election process, and suggest Americans are using violence against each other due to political preferences, judging from information available to the IC. These efforts risk inciting violence, including against election officials. We anticipate Russian actors will release additional manufactured content with these themes through election day and in the days and weeks after polls close."