‘
Non-credible threats briefly disrupted voting at two polling locations in Georgia Tuesday morning, according to local officials who say they will seek a court order to extend voting hours.
Five non-credible bomb threats were reported, leading to a temporary evacuation at two Fulton County locations for about 30 minutes, Nadine Williams, the county’s registration and elections director, said at a news conference.
“Thankfully these locations are now operational again and all polling sites are secure with an active security presence,” Williams said, according to CNN.
County officials will be seeking a court order to keep the two locations – C.H. Gullatt Elementary and Etris Community Center – open slightly later tonight, Williams said. The polling locations are in Union City, which is southwest of Atlanta.
The Fulton County School Police Department received information Tuesday morning that some schools would receive bomb threats around 8:15 a.m., according to a statement from Tori Cooper, a spokesperson for the South Fulton Police Department.
Students in the district are not in school today due to the election, the statement said. No elementary schools received any threats, but law enforcement conducted precautionary sweeps at multiple locations.
Margaret Huang, president and chief executive of the Southern Poverty Law Center, praised Fulton’s swift response to the threats and efforts to extend voting hours.
“We don’t want to allow this to disrupt our votes,” she said.
