U.S. vote counts in key swing states delayed by unsealed doors, hoax bomb threats
Election officials in Milwaukee are recounting more than 30,000 absentee ballots
Human error and hoax bomb threats have held up vote counts at some U.S. polling stations, but the presidential election remained largely on track Tuesday evening despite Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump making accusations of cheating.
In Milwaukee, election officials are recounting more than 30,000 absentee ballots because doors on the ballot tabulators were not properly sealed.
The recount could delay results in Wisconsin, considered one of seven critical swing states.
Melissa Howard, spokesperson for the Milwaukee Election Commission, said the recounting was being done "out of an abundance of caution" and there was no reason to believe any ballots already counted had been tampered with.
Howard said the problem was due to human error, and they were taking the step of recounting all of the ballots in an effort to be "completely, fully transparent," according to The Associated Press.
District attorney says Trump claims are unfounded
In Pennsylvania, meanwhile, Philadelphia's district attorney said Trump's early accusations of cheating in Tuesday's U.S. election have "no factual basis whatsoever."
"A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law enforcement coming!!!" Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday afternoon, without providing context or evidence.
A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson told CBC News in an email that police "are not aware of anything" related to Trump's claim.
Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania, another crucial swing state in the presidential election.
District Attorney Larry Krasner responded in a post on social media platform X that the only talk about massive cheating has come from Trump himself.
"There is no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation," Krasner wrote. "We have invited complaints and allegations of improprieties all day. If Donald J. Trump has any facts to support his wild allegations, we want them now. Right now. We are not holding our breath," he wrote.
Krasner has been talking tough about election interference, saying anyone who tries to interfere with the election in Philadelphia can "F around and find out."
"There are handcuffs, there are cells, there are courtrooms and there are Philadelphia jurors who are definitely going to want to know why it is a person tried to erase their votes, block their votes, bully their votes or take away their votes," he said at a press conference earlier Tuesday.
Bomb threats in four states not credible: FBI
Georgia faced delays after at least two polling sites targeted by hoax bomb threats in the state were briefly evacuated earlier Tuesday.
The FBI said hoax bomb threats, many of which appeared to originate from Russian email domains, were directed at polling locations in four battleground states — Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin.
"None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far," the FBI said in a statement.
Georgia's Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, blamed Russian interference for the threats, according to Reuters — a claim the Russian embassy in Washington denied and called "malicious slander."
Bomb threats later in the day also forced an extension of voting hours in at least two Pennsylvania counties — Clearfield, in central Pennsylvania, and Chester, near Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told reporters that state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the FBI, were investigating multiple bomb threats across the state.
"Thus far, there is no credible threat to the public," Shapiro said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from The Associated Press and Reuters