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On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Register-Recorder’s headquarters in Norwalk received a bomb threat. This is the latest in a series of threats targeting polling places and polling places locally and nationally.
No explosives were found at the scene. An investigation is currently underway, according to L.A. County Registrar’s Office Clerk Dean Logan.
“We take all such threats seriously and are working closely with the FBI, state authorities, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to ensure the safety of our staff and community, and to maintain uninterrupted operations,” Logan said in a statement. “We are collaborating with them,” he said. “These threats and efforts to disrupt the lawful, transparent and secure process of counting all eligible ballots have no place in our election process.”
L.A. County Registrar’s Office spokesman Mike Sanchez said the threat was made via email. There were no employees and no one scheduled to be in the office until Tuesday.
The source of the threat may have confused the address. Ballot processing centers have been targets of recent bombings, but the Los Angeles County bombing was at the Industry facility, not Norwalk. Authorities also searched the facility but found nothing suspicious.
On Election Day, the FBI said it was aware of fake bomb threats made against polling places in several states, noting that many appeared to be coming from Russian email domains.
Other Southern California polling places were also targeted after polls closed. The San Diego County Registrar of Voters received a bomb threat Friday night but concluded the threat was not credible, officials announced.
Registrar’s offices in Orange and Riverside counties were evacuated Friday night after receiving bomb threats, but no explosives were found at either site, authorities said.
All Orange County Voter Registrar employees and general staff were evacuated from the Santa Ana office 15 minutes before the facility was scheduled to stop processing ballots, officials said in a statement. Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies were already on scene and coordinated the evacuation of the building, located in the 1300 block of South Grand Avenue.
A bomb-sniffing dog was used to search the entire building, but no explosives were found.
“The Orange County Registrar of Voters is committed to ensuring equal access to the election process, protecting the integrity of voting, and maintaining a transparent, accurate and fair election system.” Bob Page of the bureau said in a statement. “We are working diligently to address this incident and protect the safety of all staff and members of the public who visit our offices.”
On Friday night, the Riverside County Voter Registrar received a similar unsubstantiated threat at its Riverside office.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was immediately alerted and members of the public and staff were evacuated from the scene at 2720 Gateway Drive within five minutes. Sheriff’s deputies and explosive ordnance squad members conducted a thorough search, but no explosives were found, the registrar said.
“Riverside Voter Registration remains committed to the safety of our residents and employees,” officials said in a statement. “We continue to prioritize transparency and encourage the public to observe all processes to ensure fair, accurate and transparent elections.”
A bomb threat was sent via email to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Friday night, prompting the sheriff’s office to evacuate more than 100 employees, but a sweep with bomb-sniffing dogs found nothing suspicious. There wasn’t.
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