A series of fake bomb threats targeting polling places in the Philadelphia-area and several other states on Election Day appear to be from Russia, officials said.
An email announcing a bomb threat at the Chester County Government Services Center on 601 Westtown Road in West Chester was sent to Chester County Voter Services on Tuesday night, shortly before polls closed, according to investigators.
Chester County Emergency Officials responded to the building which was evacuated. The Chester County Sheriff's Office K9 Unit conducted a sweep and determined the threat was unfounded. The building was later reopened.
"I'm happy to say that the building is safe, that the threat appears to be dubious, and we are functioning just like we planned," Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe said during a Tuesday night press conference.
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Following a Chester County court order, voting hours were extended to 10 p.m. for the impacted voters at neighboring polling places at West Chester Seventh-day Adventist Church and Glen Acres Elementary School.
Officials said the reporting of Chester County Election results was not impacted by the incident. The processing of mail-in-ballots takes place at a different location and continued Tuesday night. All polling place results arriving at the Government Services Center and delivered by Judges of Elections proceeded as planned at the building, officials said.
Barrena-Sarobe said that the incident appeared to be part of a series of fake bomb threats at polling places at swing states across the country. An FBI spokesperson said many of the threats appear to have originated from Russian email domains and none of the threats appear to be credible.
Decision 2024
“This appears to be overseas in origin," Barrena-Sarobe said. “I know they’re working off an idea that some of the IP addresses are coming from Russia. And what is clear from all the recent news reports and information from the FBI is that this is part of a consistent, coordinated attempt to call in bomb threats to swing states in order to disrupt the election.”
The threats impacted polling places in Philadelphia as well, officials said.
Philadelphia police said they responded to bomb threats at the following locations between 6:43 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. on Tuesday:
- The 900 block of South 7th Street
- The 1000th block of South 4th Street
- The 400 block of Queen Street
- The 700 block of Catharine Street
- The 1100 block of Catharine Street
- The 200 block of Washington Avenue
- The 900 block of Federal Street
- The 1200 block of Wharton Street
- The 1200 block of Carpenter Street
- The 1000th block of East Erie Avenue
Police said all of the locations were searched by K-9 units and had negative results.
During a Tuesday night press conference, District Attorney Larry Krasner said there were also fake bomb threats at polling places on 1013 Elsworth Street and 66th Street and Chester Avenue in Philadelphia.
Krasner said both threats were unfounded. During one of the incidents, a man walked into a polling place and made a verbal threat but was later detained, according to Krasner.
If you have information on any of the threats, please call Philadelphia police at 215-686-3013. You can also submit an anonymous tip by calling or texting 215-686-TIPS (8477).
