After at least two polling locations in Fulton County, Georgia, were briefly evacuated Tuesday morning, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, confirmed that at least one bomb threat made against a polling place was of Russian origin. In a press conference, Raffensperger noted that and threats were meant to sow fear and confusion and did not constitute any real danger. “We identified the source, and it was from Russia.” He did not, however, specify how he knew that Russia was behind the scheme.
“They’re up to mischief it seems,” Raffensperger said about the Russians. “They don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election.”
“Anything that can get us to fight amongst ourselves," he continued, "they can count that as a victory.”
Raffensperger told reporters that the threat, which affected between five and seven precincts across multiple counties, was resolved. CNN reported that the temporary closure of polling places occurred at the Etris Community Center and Gullatt Elementary in Union City, and noted that Union City’s population is nearly 90% Black, according to the US Census Bureau.
There is, however, plenty of precedence for Russian "mischief" in U.S. elections, particularly in crucial battleground states like Georgia. Last Friday, U.S intelligence agencies accused Russia of circulating a fake but viral video of a man claiming to be a Haitian immigrant saying that he and his friend voted for Harris twice. Earlier in October, Russian hackers were purportedly behind a denial-of-service attack against Raffensberger's government website, which provides instructions for people on how to vote in Georgia. Raffensperger said that the issue was resolved after his office added further security measures.
After a string of attempted disruptions in the past several months, including by GOP activists, state and federal officials have been preparing for an escalation on election day itself. Earlier Tuesday afternoon, the FBI warned of two fake videos making the rounds on social media — one falsely cites a high terror threat and urges Americans to "vote remotely," while another includes a fake FBI press release claiming rigged voting by inmates in five prisons.
"Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI threat assessments and activities aim to undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system," the FBI said in a statement.
