Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin report bomb threats originating in Russia as Americans cast ballots

As millions of voters cast their ballots for the White House and members of Congress on Tuesday, officials across the country are rapidly grappling with bomb threats and disinformation campaigns that officials said were aimed at undermining trust in the election.

Some of the bomb threats made on Election Day appear to be linked to Russian actors, Georgia and Michigan officials said. The threats, which experts described as evidence of increasingly aggressive actions by foreign powers trying to influence U.S. elections, were an additional burden on election officials who were already prepared Tuesday to address any normal technical problems to keep polls open.

In Fulton County, Georgia, officials said they received multiple bomb threats, including two incidents that forced officials to briefly close polling locations. In Indiana, text messages sent to voters falsely claimed that friends and family could see whom people voted for. And the FBI warned that faked video clips were circulating on the internet telling Americans to “vote remotely” because of a terrorist threat.

In most polling locations across the country, voting that began days or weeks ago with mail-in ballots continued smoothly on Tuesday, according to reports. But several incidents highlight the reality of recent U.S. elections, where intelligence officials warn that foreign actors such as Russia and Iran are looking to influence outcomes and undermine voter confidence, and election officials are facing increased threats from an increasingly divided electorate.

“Everything we were seeing then (in 2016 and 2020) is being supercharged,” said Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. “What you’re seeing now is a harbinger of the future.”

In Georgia, a key battleground state that went for Democrats in 2020, Fulton County Director of Registration and Elections Nadine Williams said officials received five bomb threats Tuesday morning, including two incidents that forced officials to briefly shut down polling locations. The threats proved to be noncredible.

The two locations, Etris-Darnell Senior Center and C.H. Gullatt Elementary School, both in Union City, closed for about 30 minutes. Officials were already seeking a court order to keep the two locations open 30 minutes longer to make up for the time they were closed, Williams said.

Some of the bomb threats, reported in multiple states, appeared to have originated from Russia, officials said.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirmed in a news conference the incidents in his state appeared to be linked to Russia. In a CNN interview, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said bomb threats received there were also linked to Russian actors, but officials said they were undeterred.

“Georgia is not going to be intimidated,” Raffensperger said. “Russia has picked on the wrong Georgia.”

Maine State Police also confirmed “swatting” calls — pranks designed to prompt law enforcement to respond to a reported emergency — were made to schools in that state Tuesday, similar to other calls made across the country, but did not comment on their origin.

Levin said that while previous efforts by foreign countries to influence the election might have focused on sowing division online, the possibility of bomb threats being made on polling locations pointed to an expanding threat of how outside powers are looking to affect the election.

“The Russians are undermining the integrity of election by every means, fake stories, fake videos, and threats to dissuade voting,” said Brian Jenkins, senior advisor to the president of Rand. “It will continue beyond election night and all the way to the inauguration.”

The purpose, he said, is weakening whomever is in the White House.

“The U.S. is in an information war,” he said.

The FBI confirmed that several threats made at polling locations across the country appear to have originated from Russian email domains. The agency did not specify how many threats have been received, but said the states affected by these threats were Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, election officials are still grappling with internal threats while trying not to interrupt voting.

Officials arrested a 25-year-old Georgia poll worker Monday after he allegedly made a bomb threat to election workers last month.

Nicholas Wimbish allegedly had a verbal altercation with a voter on Oct. 16 and, later that evening, mailed a letter to the Jones County superintendent purporting to be from a “Jones County Voter.”

The letter alleged that Wimbish had “give[n] me hell” and that Wimbish — who was the actual writer of the letter — was “distracting voters from concentrating.” The letter said that workers should look over their shoulder, threatened to “rage rape” female workers and claimed to have left a bomb at an early voting location.

In Ann Arbor, Mich., a 25-year-old man was charged with sending a threatening communication after he allegedly threatened to carry out an attack if former President Donald Trump won the election.

Isaac Sissel allegedly claimed to have stolen an AR-15 and threatened to attack a Christian, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

And in Indiana, some voters reported receiving a text message telling voters that “voting records are public” and that friends, neighbors and family will know whom they voted for.

Records on whom someone votes for are private. Only the fact that a ballot was cast is considered public information.

The Indiana Democratic Party called the incidents “nothing more than voter intimidation.”

In Washington, D.C., U.S. Capitol Police officers arrested a man who was stopped during screening at the Capitol Visitor Center. According to police, the man was carrying a lighter, a flare gun and fuel.

The incidents come as U.S. intelligence officials warned that foreign adversaries are continually trying to influence U.S. elections, stoke division and undermine confidence in the elections. Those efforts, officials said, are expected to increase in the coming days.

“These activities will intensify through Election Day and in the coming weeks, and that foreign influence narratives will focus on swing states,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, FBI, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a joint statement. “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.”

As voting got underway, the FBI warned that its name and insignia were being used in two fake news clips, including one that falsely claimed the agency was urging people to vote remotely because of a terrorist threat.

A second video, which included a fake FBI news release, also alleged that five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona had rigged votes from inmates and colluded with one of the political parties.

“This video is also not authentic, and its contents are false,” the FBI said in a statement. “Election integrity is among our highest priorities, 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.”

Voter interference and influence campaigns have become a growing concern since the 2016 presidential election season.

According to a recent Gallup poll, 57% of Americans say they are confident that the votes for the presidential election will be accurately cast and counted, but also found that Republicans have increasingly become more doubtful, with only 28% of Republicans having faith in the accuracy of the election.

Some of the threats emerged days before the election.

On Sunday, the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia said it had been made aware of social media posts warning that members of the Ku Klax Klan and other white supremacists from North Carolina were planning on attacking people up until the presidential inauguration in January.

“The message states that they are plotting against blacks and especially black women,” the statement read.

Sheriff’s officials said they had been in contact with the FBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and other agencies, and believe the threat was false.

“Violence or threats of violence WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!” Rockdale County Sheriff Eric J. Levett said in the statement. “We will take this serious as we do all crimes.”

The department did not state where or how the messages originated.

Levin said the foreign interference attempts, many of which originate from but are not limited to Russia, appear to focus on divisions and fears that are already present.

“This foreign interference now is really one that is surfing on the coattails of divisions that are already here domestically,” he said.

Since losing the 2020 election, Trump has cast doubt on the integrity of the election process, falsely claiming he lost the White House to Joe Biden because of voter fraud.

Multiple lawsuits in states across the country disputing the results were tossed out, and some of the lawyers who pursued those cases have been sanctioned.

Trump has continued to cast doubt on the election this year and has continued to sow doubt on Election Day.

Addressing his campaign staff from his headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump on Tuesday questioned computers used in polling places and the possibility that a winner might not be declared Tuesday night.

A winner might not be immediately known until all ballots are counted across the country in what is believed to be a tight race.

“That’s a little scary when they say, well, what are they doing?” Trump said, questioning why the results might not be immediately known. “You’re going to be watching to make sure there’s no cheating, right?”

The concerning threats come along with some of the technical issues that voting officials sometimes face during an election.

In Cambria County, Pennsylvania — another battleground state — officials said a software malfunction kept some voters from scanning their ballots, causing confusion and long lines.

Polls were set to close at 8 p.m., but the Pennsylvania Department of State announced a court order allowed polling places in Cambria County to stay open until 10 p.m.