WASHINGTON: Bomb threats had been made in opposition to a number of Maryland boards of elections and election places of work in a minimum of two California counties on Friday (Nov 8), state authorities stated, including that everybody was protected and regulation enforcement officers had been investigating.
Election officers had been counting mail-in ballots when the threats got here in Maryland. State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis stated the threats led to the evacuation of some buildings. He known as the threats “cowardly”, including that native officers will resume relying on Saturday.
“Security is a prime concern – however we WILL resume canvassing (counting) tomorrow. Cowardly threats whether or not from overseas or not shall not deter us,” DeMarinis stated on social media platform X.
“The Baltimore County Police Division is conscious and presently investigating the bomb risk acquired by way of electronic mail by the Baltimore County Board of Elections Workplace,” police posted on X, later including {that a} probe decided that risk to be unfounded.
In California’s Orange County, the registrar of voters acquired a bomb risk at an workplace in Santa Ana after which the workplace constructing was evacuated and bomb detection canine had been used to conduct a search. No explosives had been situated, officers stated, including that ordinary operations will resume on Saturday.
The registrar of voters in California’s Riverside County stated its central counting constructing was additionally evacuated as a consequence of a risk and a bomb squad discovered no explosives.
The places of work of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Maryland Governor Wes Moore stated they had been monitoring the state of affairs and dealing with native officers.
Republican Donald Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election. Counting continued in components of the nation in native, congressional and presidential races.
The FBI stated that hoax bomb threats, a lot of which appeared to originate from Russian electronic mail domains, had been directed on Tuesday at polling places in 5 battleground states – Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – as voting was below manner. Russia denies interfering in US elections.
Forward of the elections, officers had braced for threats arising from misinformation and conspiracy theories in regards to the vote.
