(WWJ) As Michiganders cast their votes in Tuesday's General Election, there were a few disruptions at a handful of voting precincts, though officials say the day mostly went smoothly as the state saw what is anticipated to be record voter turnout.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said during a Tuesday night press conference the state was "on track for record breaking turnout in this election," expected to beat the 5.6 million ballots cast in 2020.
Benson said nearly 3.4 million votes were cast throughout the mail or early voting process, including the absentee ballots received on Tuesday.
While exact voter turnout won't be known until the final results are counted, Benson said she "saw more young people show up than I ever remember seeing in any election cycle." Benson said nearly 22,000 Michiganders registered to vote on Tuesday, many of them under the age of 30.
As for the slight disruptions throughout the day, Benson's office said most significant among them were bomb threats targeting multiple voting precincts in the state.
However, no bombs were found, officials said.
"We have had some reports of bomb threats at a few polling locations. They were all investigated and confirmed to be non-credible," Secretary of State spokeswoman Angela Benander said, in an afternoon update. "As far as Russia ties, we have been notified that that is what they believed has happened; that they are tied to Russia. They're swatting attacks, and that they are all non-credible."
FBI officials said in a statement "The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains. None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far."
"Election integrity is among the FBI’s highest priorities. 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," the statement said. As always, we urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to state or local law enforcement, or submit tips to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or online at tips.fbi.gov.
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Swatting is defined as “the deliberate and malicious act of reporting a false crime or emergency to evoke an aggressive response (often a SWAT team) from a law enforcement agency to a target's residence or place of work to harass and intimidate them,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In Detroit, the Detroit Police Department said it investigated after a 911 call came in about a threat targeting a polling place on 7 Mile Road. In that case, the DPD said the threat was found not to be credible.
As for other reported problems, voting came to a halt late in the morning at Northville's Precinct Number 1 (the Community Center on Main Street) because of a gas leak. While Consumers Energy crews responded, the polling place was relocated to Hillside Middle School at 775 N. Center. Benander said the gas leak issue has been fixed.
Benander said officials are looking into whether voting hours may be extended for that precinct as a result of the incident, though that would require a court order and she had not heard about any such order.
"Things are looking really good," Benander said. "Also, from the reports we're getting from team members on the ground and voters out in the world, people are turning out. They're enthusiastic to make their voices heard, and we are hoping for a really great record-breaking night."
Benander said there would be no comment on Republican candidate Donald Trump's vague social media post referring to a "heavy law enforcement" presence in Detroit.
Looking at the U.S. as a whole, the Associated Press reported Election Day voting unfolded largely smoothly across the nation Tuesday, with only scattered reports of delays from extreme weather, ballot printing errors and technical problems. [More on that, here].