By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Several Maryland election boards and an office in a California county received bomb threats on Friday, state authorities said, adding that everyone was safe and law enforcement authorities were conducting investigations.
Election officials were counting mail-in votes when the threats came in Maryland. State elections administrator Jared DeMarinis said the threats led to the evacuation of some buildings. He called the threats “cowardly” and added that local officials will resume counting on Saturday.
“Security is a top concern, but we will resume canvassing tomorrow. Cowardly threats, whether from outside or not, will not deter us,” DeMarinis said on social media platform X.
“The Baltimore County Police Department is aware of and is currently investigating the bomb threat received via email by the Baltimore County Board of Elections Office,” police posted on X, later adding that an investigation found that this threat was unfounded.
In Orange County, California, the registrar of voters received a bomb threat at a Santa Ana office, after which the office building was evacuated and bomb-sniffing dogs were used to conduct a search. No explosives were located, authorities said, adding that normal operations would resume Saturday.
The offices of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said they were monitoring the situations and working with local officials.
Republican Donald Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election. Counting continued in some parts of the country in local, congressional and presidential elections.
The FBI said hoax bomb threats, many of which appeared to come from Russian email domains, were directed Tuesday to polling places in five battleground states — Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — as they were being carried out. voting on election day. Russia denies interfering in US elections.
Before the election, officials had prepared for attacks and threats stemming from disinformation and conspiracy theories about voting.