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Pennsylvania. Georgia. Arizona. Michigan. Maine. The list of states in which dozens of polling locations have faced bomb threats on Election Day continues to grow.
Authorities at the federal, state, and local levels—including the FBI—have all stressed that none of the threats so far have been considered credible, and no bombs have been found at any location, but the threats nonetheless led to temporary suspensions of voting in several counties. Many of the affected polling places will now stay open later than usual so people can cast their ballots.
Several officials, including the secretaries of state of Arizona and Georgia, said they believed the bomb threats originated from Russia, though neither provided any evidence to back up that claim. The FBI also said bomb threats in several states “appear to originate from Russian email domains.”
Russia does have a long track record of attempting to interfere in U.S. elections, including this one. And it’s not the only time they have been accused of using bomb threats to interfere with the vote during an election—Germany made similar allegations during the ongoing Moldovan election on Monday.
But there isn’t a smoking gun just yet. One U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal that there hasn’t been a formal assessment of Russia’s involvement in the bomb threats.
This post is part of FP’s live coverage with global updates and analysis throughout the U.S. election. Follow along here.