More than two dozen GA polling sites hit with bomb threats

ATLANTA – More than two dozen polling sites across Georgia, largely focused in the metro Atlanta area, were targeted with fake Election Day bomb threats that the FBI has said likely originated in Russia.

Most of the threats appear to have occurred at precincts in the Democratic-leaning Dekalb, Fulton and Gwinnett Counties. The threats delayed at least some voters from casting ballots, as police performed precautionary bomb sweeps.

Fulton County Police Chief W. Wade Yates said that 32 precincts in the county were targeted with bomb threats on Tuesday. Only five were deemed credible and resulted in evacuations. The hours at those five locations were extended by an emergency court order to ensure voters were able to cast ballots.

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In neighboring Dekalb County, police are investigating at least seven bomb threats, including five received by polling places. The locations include a church, a senior center, a community center and three libraries. County officials performed bomb sweeps and allowed voters to reenter after they were completed.

At least one precinct in Gwinnett County, an suburban area northeast of Atlanta, was also impacted by a bomb threat.

All three counties – Fulton, Dekalb and Gwinnett, are considered to lean Democratic. Dekalb and Fulton have been Democratic strongholds for decades, and Gwinnett has trended blue since the 2016 presidential election.

Earlier on Tuesday Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger suggested that the threats were of Russian origin and said the federal government was helping identify the threats.

The FBI said that the threats appear to be coming from Russian email domains. None of the threats were credible.

Contributing: Aysha Bagchi and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More than two dozen Georgia polling sites targeted with bomb threats