Bomb threats to New Jersey polling stations, a voter roll mishap in Pennsylvania potentially affecting thousands of voters and warnings by President Donald Trump against California’s mail balloting system marked the final day of voting in an off-year election with several nationally prominent races.
Voting otherwise appeared to be going smoothly Tuesday across the U.S., as voters cast ballots in the first significant election since Trump won the White House for a second time.
They were deciding governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia, a mayor's race in New York, supreme court elections in Pennsylvania, and voting and gun control measures in Maine. A redistricting initiative in California that was a response to Trump's push to redraw congressional lines in GOP-controlled states ahead of next year's midterm elections has been of particular interest to the Republican president.
His Department of Justice sent election monitors to five counties in California, a state Trump has lost three times and where he has often criticized its use of mail ballots despite no evidence of any widespread fraud or other voting-related problems. In a post Tuesday on his social media platform, the president called the state's voting process “RIGGED” and warned that it was “under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!”
Claims of election rigging are almost routine for Trump in the run-up to elections and sometimes on the day of voting itself. On Election Day last year, before he was declared the winner, he claimed without providing any details or evidence that there was “talk about massive cheating in Philadelphia” and said law enforcement was on the way. He continues to lie about his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has been championing the redistricting initiative, responded to Trump with his own social media post calling the president “A totally unserious person spreading false information in a desperate attempt to cope with his failures.”
Secretary of State Shirley Weber moved to reassure Californians who had not yet voted not to be deterred.
“It appears this is another baseless claim,” she said in a statement. “The bottom line is California elections have been validated by the courts. California voters will not be deceived by someone who consistently makes desperate, unsubstantiated attempts to dissuade Americans from participating in our democracy.”
In New Jersey, law enforcement and election officials acted swiftly as voting began to secure polling places following a series of unfounded bomb threats.
Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way, who also serves as the state's top election official, said the threats had been emailed to seven counties, including Passaic, a key swing county. It also is the only county outside California where the Department of Justice had sent election monitors, in both cases at the request of the Republican parties in each state.
“Law enforcement has determined that there are no credible threats at this time,” Way said. “We are doing everything in our power to protect voters and poll workers and coordinate closely with state, local and federal partners to ensure a smooth and safe election.”
The threats came as the final day of voting began in the state's closely-watched race for governor and a year after a series of bomb threats disrupted voting during last year’s presidential election, mostly in battleground states. Bomb threat hoaxes also circulated in Springfield, Ohio, last year after Donald Trump during the campaign amplified false claims of Haitian immigrants there abducting and eating pets.
The threats Tuesday involved polling places in Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Passaic counties, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. Some polling locations had already reopened to the public, he said, while voters at others were being directed to nearby polling locations to cast their ballot.
“Law enforcement officers have responded at each affected polling place, and they have worked swiftly to secure these polling locations and ensure the safety of every voter,” Platkin said.
The FBI's Newark office said it was aware of the reports and was assisting the state and local agencies: “This Dept. of Justice is committed to free, fair and safe elections,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a social media post related to the bomb threat investigation.
Passaic County received three threats and redirected some affected voters to other locations early Tuesday, county spokesperson Lindsay Reed said in an email. One location, a school building, was cleared and voting had resumed.
In Pennsylvania, nearly 20% of voters in Chester County were left out of the poll books originally provided to polling locations on Tuesday, county officials said. That included voters registered as anything other than a Republican or a Democrat, including those registered with the Green or Libertarian parties or independents with no party affiliation. The category includes about 75,000 registered voters out of roughly 385,000 countywide.
Election officials in the Democratic-leaning county located about 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) west of Philadelphia became aware of the problem just after polling places opened and were “actively deploying” supplemental poll books to 230 polling locations, county spokesperson Rebecca Brain said. There will be a formal review.
A majority of Chester County voters backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election. Voters on Tuesday were weighing in on local offices, as well as on members of Pennsylvania’s highest court. Three Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court were running in nonpartisan retention elections, in which voters give a “yes” or “no” on whether they serve another term.
Third-party and independent voters who came to cast ballots before supplemental poll books arrived were offered a provisional ballot. County review boards consider the status of provisional ballots within seven days of Election Day.
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Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio, and Fingerhut from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, and Sarah Brumfeld in Washington contributed to this report.