Russia-Linked Bomb Threats to US Polling Stations Not Credible: FBI

The FBI has blamed “Russian email domains” for a number of bomb threats targeting polling stations across the United States today.
In a statement, the agency said: “The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains. None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far.”
It comes after Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that a bomb threat was made against multiple polling places in his state.
He stated that the threat originated from Russia and was deemed not credible.
“In the interest of public safety, you always check that out,” Raffensperger, a Republican, said.
He added: “They’re up to mischief, it seems. They don’t want us to have a smooth, fair and accurate election.”
In a later press conference, Raffensperger clarified that the threat affected between five and seven precincts in multiple Georgia counties.
According to USA Today, while Raffensperger indicated the federal government was involved in identifying the threat, he declined to comment further on which law enforcement agencies responded or on how he knew the threat came from Russia.
In addition, Raffensperger said the threat was dealt with on Tuesday morning and law enforcement had addressed it.
The threat comes on Election Day in which Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, will face off against former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee.
Georgia, a battleground state, will play a key role in determining the result of this year’s presidential election. A presidential candidate needs to secure 270 Electoral College votes for victory, and winning the national popular vote does not guarantee success.
Newsweek has reached out to Raffensperger’s office via email for comment.
This is not the first time Georgia has faced threats from Russia. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a video circulating on social media that falsely purports to show a Haitian immigrant claiming to have voted multiple times in Georgia was blamed on Russians.
According to USA Today, in response to this video, Raffensperger’s office called it “targeted disinformation” and that it was likely produced by “Russian troll farms.”
In addition, Russians were blamed for a cyberattack called a denial-of-service against Raffensperger office’s website on October 14.
However, Raffensperger, in response to the attack, said his office added a question to their website about whether each visitor to the website was a human, which curtailed the attack.
These attacks and other threats come after a report from Microsoft last month showed that foreign adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran, may be ramping up efforts to meddle in the U.S. 2024 presidential election.
The tech giant’s threat intelligence division revealed that these countries are expanding the landscape of coordinated campaigns to sway public opinion and disrupt the democratic process, echoing patterns seen in past U.S. elections.
Russia, China and Iran have all rejected claims that they are seeking to meddle with the U.S. election.
Despite these threats, U.S. officials remain confident that the nation’s election infrastructure is secure. However, the potential impact on public opinion remains a significant concern.
As Clint Watts, general manager of Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center, said: “History has shown that the ability of foreign actors to rapidly distribute deceptive content can significantly impact public perception and electoral outcomes.”
He warned: “With a particular focus on the 48 hours before and after Election Day, voters, government institutions, candidates and parties must remain vigilant to deceptive and suspicious activity online.”
Even as Russia, China and Iran try to influence voters, intelligence officials said Tuesday there is still no indication they are plotting significant attacks on election infrastructure as a way to disrupt the outcome.
Update: 11/5/24, 1:25 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.