Wisconsin polling places received threats linked to Russian domains, FBI says

Wisconsin polling locations received non-credible bomb threats on Tuesday that seemingly originated from Russian email domains, Caroline Clancy, public affairs officer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Milwaukee, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Along with Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona also received threats linked to Russian email domains on Election Day, according to the FBI. None of the threats have been deemed credible, though voting slowed down in more than two dozen Georgia polling places as police performed precautionary bomb sweeps.

"We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to respond to any threats to our elections and to protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote as always," Clancy said.

The FBI's statement comes after Wisconsin election officials had previously denied any threats to Wisconsin polling places.

At around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe told reporters, "there are active or ongoing threats against any polling places in Wisconsin."

While Clancy did not provide location or specifics of the fake bomb threats in Wisconsin, the Madison Police Department said Tuesday that emailed threats were sent regarding the Madison Metropolitan School District. Officials determined the threats were not credible and did not say if the threats were linked to Russia.

The school district was alerted to the threats and voting was not disrupted. Students did not have class on Election Day. Police said they will continue to do extra patrols for polling places at schools.

Police said they didn't want news of the discredited bombs threats to discourage voters from hitting the polls on Election Day.

Madison, Dane County officials report no major issues at the polls

At the City-County building in downtown Madison, Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl reported 85,656 votes cast in the liberal stronghold as of 4 p.m. Tuesday, including tens of thousands of absentee ballots processed so far.

City staff still need to reach 37 wards to report their turnout, Witzel-Behl said.

She said she’d been on the phone with almost every polling place inspector throughout the day and they’d reported no major issues.

Asked about bomb threats to polling places across the country, Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said he has not spoken with any law enforcement officials about threats in Dane County.

“There could be things I don’t know much about, but no polling places have been affected,” McDonell said. “Nothing’s happened here.”

How to report suspicious election activity

Clancy said the FBI Milwaukee division urges the public "to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to state or local law enforcement."

If you see any suspicious activity, you can submit a tip to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or online at tips.fbi.gov.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin polling places received threats with Russian origins, FBI says