Lawsuits, bomb threats and a Capitol arrest: Live coverage of Election Day snags

WASHINGTON ? Polling places in the swing states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin were targeted with false bomb threats that the FBI said originated in Russia on Election Day as polls showed an incredibly tight contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.Meanwhile a fake news clip falsely reported the FBI was advising Americans to "vote remotely” due to a threat of terrorism at polling stations.

Still, Cait Conley, a senior advisor at the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said "we are not seeing any significant incident with national-level impact."

Presidential election live coverage: Latest updates on Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris

"We're not out of the woods yet," Conley said.

The Philadelphia district attorney said there was "no factual basis whatsoever" to support a Trump claim of election fraud in the heavily Democratic city. Pennsylvania extended voting in Cambria County, in the western part of the state, to 10 p.m. Tuesday over software problems.

Follow along as the USA TODAY Network brings you news of legal and logistical challenges facing the pivotal 2024 vote.

2024 presidential election: Trump supporters expect election fraud and violence

Rejected ballots not uncommon in Nevada, ACLU says

While Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar said he was concerned about the more than 10,000 rejected ballots that may need curing, a state voting rights leader said the high number is not uncommon.

Outside the polling site at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Aguilar said more than 11,300 ballots reportedly still needed signature "curing" in Clark County, where Vegas is located, as did about 1,200 ballots in Washoe County, where Reno is located. Curing typically results from a signature mismatch between the state’s electronic records system and the signature on the ballot.

“Curing is normal,” said Ahtar Haseebullah, executive director for the ACLU of Nevada, who’s noticed the high rate of rejected ballots in statewide elections since 2020. “It’s not unexpected these last few years.”

Haseebullah said while the current number is high, the curing measure ensures ballot accuracy.

“That number is expected to decrease in the next few days compared to where it is today,” Haseebullah said. “Everybody’s working to get the number reduced. it’s just a part of the process here."

Haseebullah said the problem typically works itself out once the mail-in ballot signatures are verified.

“It’s either they relax the current rule or they eliminate the ability to vote by mail and both of those options would be problematic,” he said.

?Terry Collins

Pennsylvania poll sites targeted with bomb threats

Several polling places in Pennsylvania were targeted with bomb threats less than two hours before polls closed on Election Day, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said the threats were being investigated “and thus far there is no credible threat.”

The outlet reported that the threats appeared to be “hoaxes sent via email” and led to proactive measures by officials, including evacuation and requests to extend voting hours. Some of the counties that were targeted include Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia.

?Sudiksha Kochi

FBI debunks fake videos

The FBI released a new statement on Tuesday noting three instances of its name and insignia being used to promote false election claims.

One involved fabricated video claiming the FBI “received 9,000 complaints about malfunctioning voting machines,” according to the statement. Another was a fabricated FBI statement warning media and bloggers not to publish information about violence at polling stations.

The third involved a video "impersonating the FBI and a United States government agency" with a purported statement that schools should suspend activities until Nov. 11.

“Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI threat assessments and activities aim to undermine our democratic process and erode trust in the electoral system,” the Tuesday statement said.

?Sudiksha Kochi

More: Mobile voter van helps 'cure' ballot mistakes in Pennsylvania county

Navajo Nation files suit to keep polls open two more hours in Arizona county

The Navajo Nation filed a lawsuit in Apache County in Arizona on Tuesday requesting that the county extend voting an additional two hours from 7pm to 9pm, citing concerns that some people have been denied the right to vote.

The lawsuit alleges that voters across portions of the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona were unable to vote because of machine malfunctions, a lack of ballots, long lines and poll workers not accepting forms of identification.

They asked that all polling places on the Navajo Nation in Apache County be kept open until 9 p.m., rather than their slated 7 p.m. closing time.

–Karissa Waddick 

More: Election Day in Arizona: Updates

Michigan SOS investigating text urging people to vote on Wednesday

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office is investigating a text message sent in support of a local Republican state representative telling voters to vote on Wednesday, according to CNN.

The outlet received a copy of the message sent on Tuesday, which says “polls will open tomorrow at 7:00am." It was sent by Michigan State Rep. Kathy Schmaltz, a Republican.

Democratic State Sen. Sue Shink filed a complaint.

Benson’s spokesperson, Angela Benander, confirmed in a statement her office is investigating.

?Sudiksha Kochi

More: Who's winning the 2024 presidential election in Michigan? Get live results here

PA court stops unauthorized hand count

A court in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, south of Pittsburgh, ordered an elections precinct judge to turn over all ballots and other election material once polls close at 8 p.m. after he told the county elections chief he intended to perform a hand count of all the ballots in his precinct.

Washington Township Judge of Elections Vincent Manetta, according to the petition, had told Marybeth Kuznik, the director of the Fayette County Bureau of Elections, and the county's solicitor, that he planned to perform the hand count despite being told that doing so was outside the scope of his duties.

Fayette County officials filed a petition seeking to have Manetta comply with their instructions. Fayette County voted for Donald Trump by a 2 to 1 margin in 2020.

?Matthew Rink

More: More than two dozen GA polling sites hit with bomb threats

Heavy student turnout in pivotal Nevada county

In the Nevada swing county of Washoe County, heavy student turnout led to long lines at the University of Nevada’s Reno campus. A polling site manager said voters were waiting about 90 minutes to cast ballots, and that about 25% of voters were taking advantage of Nevada’s same-day registration rules. But they were turning away students who lacked a state-issued ID, she said.By 4 p.m., countywide, about 1,200 ballots had been set aside to be “cured,” typically caused by a signature mismatch between the state’s electronic records system and the signature on the ballot. A spokesman for Washoe County said that number is “about normal,” compared to previous elections.

?Trevor Hughes

Bomb threats target Navajo Country polling sites in Arizona

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said in a YouTube video that Election Day bomb threats targeted four specific locations in Navajo County.

“These are unsubstantiated threats,” Fontes said. “We have no reason to believe that any of our voters or any of our polling places are in any sort of jeopardy.”

He added that he’s met with state law enforcement officers and his security team who are probing the attack, and said there’s reason to believe that the attack comes from a foreign enemy.

The FBI wrote in a statement that they are aware of bomb threats to polling locations in many states, “many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains.”

“None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the FBI wrote.

?Sudiksha Kochi

Election security agency says no evidence to back Trump's Philadelphia and Detroit fraud claims

The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a briefing that there was "no evidence' of the widespread fraud that former President Donald Trump said he's heard of in Philadelphia and Detroit.

On Tuesday evening Eastern time, Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform that he had heard of "massive CHEATING" in Pennsylvania's biggest city and of law enforcement activity in Philadelphia and Detroit.

But Cait Conley, senior advisor for elections at CISA, shot down those assertions.

"We see no evidence or data or reports supporting those claims," she told reporters in a briefing. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner also refuted Trump's claims.

Philadelphia and Detroit are both Democratic bastions in coin-toss swing states.

?Dan Morrison

Seven more bomb threats, 5 targeting polling places, in metro Atlanta

Police in DeKalb County, Georgia are investigating seven bomb threats received on Election Day. DeKalb, part of metro Atlanta, is a deep blue county that voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden in 2020.

Five threats were located at polling places, forcing officials to halt voting and evacuate. The locations include a church, a senior center, a community center and three libraries.

County officials said bomb sweeps are being performed as a precaution, and that voters will be able to reenter the precincts once the they're cleared by law enforcement.

“Rest assured that we are working quickly to ensure every voter will have an opportunity to cast their ballot despite these bomb threats,” DeKalb elections chief Keisha Smith said in a press release. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are suspending voting at these polling locations until we have clearance from DeKalb Police to reopen the facilities.”

Officials said they were seeking an emergency court order to extend the hours of the affected polling locations.

“Every asset that we have will be deployed to ensure that every citizen who wants to vote will be given that opportunity and every vote cast will be counted,” said DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.

— Maya Homan

Will lawmakers and congressional candidates commit to upholding the 2024 results? We asked

With nearly half of the country's Republicans and a quarter of Democrats questioning whether next month's presidential election will be fair, USA TODAY wanted to know where members of the next Congress stand on the issue.

So, we surveyed all 382 members of the House and 91 Senators who are either running for re-election or would still be in office in January, asking whether they would uphold the 2024 presidential election results, regardless of the winner. We also polled 747 candidates running for the House and Senate whose names are on the ballot this year.

• 117 sitting House members, 14 of whom are Republicans and 103 are Democrats;

• 27 sitting Senate members, 2 of whom are Republicans and 25 Democrats;

• 236 candidates for House and Senate, including 130 Democrats, 45 Republicans and 61 third-party candidates.

Here’s a full breakdown of how lawmakers responded.

-Sudiksha Kochi

Judge strikes down lawsuit challenging 7 Georgia counties that accepted absentee ballots over the weekend 

A federal judge in Savannah struck down a last-minute lawsuit from the Georgia Republican Party and the Republican National Committee that sought to restrict seven Democratic-leaning counties from accepting absentee ballots that were hand-delivered by voters the weekend before Election Day, Tuesday.

Only seven counties — Chatham, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett — were named in the lawsuit, despite the fact that conservative-leaning counties like Walton had also opened their doors over the weekend.

Judge R. Stan Baker, who was appointed to his current position on the U.S. District Court by former President Donald Trump, ruled against the Republican-led suit, stating that it lacked a "basic level of statutory review and reading comprehension."

The decision echoed a Monday ruling from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer, who struck down a separate lawsuit seeking to prevent Fulton County election officials from accepting 305 hand-delivered absentee ballots that were received the weekend before the election.

— Maya Homan

A dispute in Florida over electioneering near a polling site

On Tuesday, opponents of a state constitutional amendment question addressing abortion rights set up in a driveway across from a polling place in DeBary, Florida, with big signs showing ultrasound photos from a pregnancy and signs encouraging a no vote on the amendment.

The opponents were well within a 150-foot no solicitation zone around voting precincts set aside by Florida law, and the law makes no clear exceptions for private property, said Amity Boye, an attorney working with the local Democratic Party, which protested to to the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections. “I absolutely think it’s a clear violation of the law.”

The statute specifies the county elections office is responsible for marking the boundaries 150 feet from the door of the precinct, said Lisa Lewis, Supervisor of Elections in Volusia County. “But if it crosses the road, we don’t go beyond the road,” Lewis said, based on direction she said she received from county attorneys.

“When it’s a home, you get into first amendment rights,” Lewis said. “Do I wish they wouldn’t do it? Absolutely.”

When the opponents to the amendment set up there during early voting, “we were very upset,” Boye said. “We escalated it to our state lawyers, and they said there’s nothing we can do.”

“There’s an advisory opinion that leaves it an open question whether that kind of activity can occur on private property,” Boye said. The six-page advisory opinion was issued in 2020 on state letterhead by Maria Matthews, director of the state division of the elections in response to a query by Hillsborough County’s elections supervisor.

The opinion outlined previous case law, but ultimately declined to advise whether the supervisor could impose the no-solicitation zone against a private property owner, unless the activity begins to interfere with maintenance of order at the polls.

“If the rule is there that no one should be in the zone, no one should be in the zone,” said Jewel Dickson, chair of the Volusia County Democratic Party. “I couldn’t care whether it’s private property or not no one should be in that zone if it’s protected for voters.”

“If you live there, you should be allowed to have a sign, but we don’t want them trying to proselytize voters,” she added.

-Dinah Pulver

Milwaukee rerunning more than 30,000 absentee ballots over machine error, delaying results

Milwaukee's central count location will rerun about 31,000 ballots after a "sealing" error with the tabulation machines was discovered at the downtown site, potentially delaying a final count by one to three hours, city spokesman Jeff Fleming said.

"It's just out of an abundance of caution. We have no reason to believe that there was any compromise to any of the machines," Fleming. "But because they were not fully sealed — human error — and not fully sealed, we are going to zero them all out again … and then rerun the balance that had already been processed."

Caroline Reinwald, a spokesperson for the Milwaukee Election Commission, said that the doors had not been properly closed for the tabulation machines.

Before the error was discovered city officials were estimating a final count wouldn't be ready until the early morning hours.

-Vanessa Swales

Philly DA: 'No factual basis whatsoever' for Trump fraud claims

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday that there is no evidence to back up Republican candidate Donald Trump’s claim of election fraud in Philadelphia."The only talk about massive cheating has come from one of the candidates, Donald J. Trump. There is no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation. 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," Krasner said in a statement.

Krasner's statement came after Trump, who has focused his unfounded fraud claims on Pennsylvania in recent weeks, said on Truth Social that “A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!”

CNN reported that Philadelphia Police Department did not know of any issues with voting that required law enforcement assistance.

-Sarah D. Wire

Navajo Nation polling lines in Arizona so long voters are giving up: witnesses

Voting lines in Navajo Nation have stretched for more than three hours and driven voters to abandon their polling sites.

Printer issues and shortages of provisional ballots created the long lines, especially in Apache County, Arizona.

Tim Hardy, a Navajo Marine veteran, skipped voting on state propositions and went straight to the line between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. As he left, he saw people were leaving the line in frustration.

Donna Holyan and her mother, Ella Wauneka, waited three hours to vote and said there were only two voting booths. They said about 200 paper ballots that had been available were already used up.

"So we were like, 'They should've had more,’” Wauneka said.

-Arlyssa D. Becenti

Pennsylvania county elections chief asks court to stop precinct judge's hand count

An election judge in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, has told the county's elections chief that he intends to perform a hand count of all the ballots cast in his precinct. Now the county is asking the courts to intervene.

Marybeth Kuznik, the director of the Fayette County Bureau of Elections, is asking the Fayette County Common Pleas Court to order Washington Township Judge of Elections Vincent Manetta to turn over all of the precinct's ballots and other election material at the close of polls without performing a hand count, which would delay vote tallying by several hours, Kuznik said in the lawsuit.

Manetta, according to the petition, said he would disregard Kuznik's orders and the Fayette County solicitor when told he was not permitted to perform duties outside the scope of his position.

Kuznik is asking that a sheriff's deputy be permitted to escort a poll worker with the ballots from Washington Township to the Fayette County Bureau of Elections if Manetta refuses to comply.

-Matthew Rink

About 10 Georgia precincts to stay open late after Russia bomb threat: Raffensperger

Approximately 10 Georgia voting precincts will be staying open late, each for about 20-40 minutes, as a result of a bomb threat that came from Russia in the morning, according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The precincts are in various counties, including Atlanta's Fulton County and Atlanta-adjacent Gwinnett County, Raffensperger said. The normal time for polling locations to close across the Peach State is 7 p.m. ET.

Earlier Tuesday, the FBI announced that bomb threats appearing to come from Russian email domains targeted polling sites in several states. None of them were determined to be credible.

– Aysha Bagchi

North Carolina extends voting hours in two polling places

Two polling places in North Carolina will have longer voting hours because of delays at the beginning of Election Day, the state Board of Elections decided.

The board extended the voting deadline by 30 minutes at Wilson County's Gardners Elementary School and the Pilot Mountain polling place in Burke County. These locations will now close at 8 p.m.

In Wilson County, poll workers were unable to print authorization to vote forms from about 6:40 a.m. to 8:07 a.m., resulting in about 10 voters leaving the location. Voters who cast ballots at this location after 7:30 p.m. will be given provisional ballots, the board said.

In Pilot Mountain, voting was delayed due to laptop technological issues. A handful of voters left the location without voting.

-Sarah Gleason

Looser rules for partisan poll watchers haven’t led to problems yet: oting-rights advocates

Voting rights advocates are keeping an eye on how looser rules governing partisan workers are playing out in places such as Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin, but reported no early problems on Election Day.

Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause in Texas, said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon this is the first presidential election since the Lone Star state legislature approved a law allowing partisan poll watchers unfettered access to polling places and made it harder to kick them out “for causing a ruckus.”

“This is definitely something we’ve been training our poll monitors on,” Gutierrez said. “Thus far we haven’t found anything serious, but it’s definitely high on our radar.”

Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause in North Carolina, said the legislature also approved a law since the last presidential election empowering partisan observers to “roam freely” at polling places.

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said partisan observers in the Badger State wear badges and stand in designated areas. Interest in partisan observers has grown as politicking grew more polarized.

“In this particular election, there has been greater interest,” Heck said. “In part that has been sparked by election deniers and conspiracy theorists who are always trying to figure out how nefarious election clerks are, which of course isn’t the case.”

A large number of observers are expected Tuesday night at central facilities where absentee ballots are counted in Milwaukee and Green Bay.

“Generally, the process hasn’t been interrupted. It generally is civilized and there is no problems,” Heck said. “But with the high tension and the high velocity and the high temperature of this election, I think everybody is just watching carefully to see how this new universe of partisan observers is going to behave. So far so good. The test will be tonight in the central counting facilities.”

--Bart Jansen

Wisconsin Democratic Party chair says 'blue shift' will follow 'red mirage'

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler asked Badger State Democrats not to freak out if Trump appears to be winning the swing state's 10 Electoral College votes on Tuesday night because Democratic-leaning mail-in votes won't have been counted yet.

"We should expect a red shift where it seems like Trump is doing better than he is in fact, doing, and then, excuse me — a red mirage — and then a blue shift once those absentee ballot counts come in the middle of the night," Wikler said on MSNBC on Monday. "Don’t be fooled and don’t be alarmed if it seems like Trump is overperforming what you’d expect when you get to midnight, because there’s still about 100,000 ballots, kind of big cache of ballots that have yet to be reported in Milwaukee."

Wikler noted that was how the 2020 election played out in the closely divided state, which President Biden ultimately won, as Democrats were more likely to vote by mail but Wisconsin is one of seven states that does not allow mail-in ballots to be opened or counted prior to Election Day.

-Ben Adler

Texas election worker allegedly assaulted for telling voter to take off MAGA hat

Voting in Texas was largely unremarkable, but in one incident an election worker was assaulted after asking a voter to remove his "Make America Great Again" hat, according to a voting-rights group.

The election worker in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, asked the voter to remove the hat in the polling place because it contained a political message.

“The voter vehemently disagreed and struck the poll worker,” Anthony Gutierrez, the state executive director for Common Cause, a government watchdog group, said in a news conference. “The person is facing third-degree assault charges.”

Otherwise, Gutierrez said there have been only minor incidents included voting machines no functioning as they should have.

“By and large, things have been running pretty smoothly,” Gutierrez said.

-Bart Jansen

Man stopped entering U.S. Capitol building with torch lighter and fuel

WASHINGTON – Capitol Police stopped a man attempting to enter the U.S. Capitol building Tuesday smelling of gasoline and carrying a torch lighter and a flare gun, according to the department.

The man was stopped around 1:30 p.m. after hesitating going through security. He had two containers of fuel or "some sort of accelerant" in his backpack and something that looked like a firearm, Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger told reporters.

The backpack smelled like fuel because one of the bottles was leaking. He was also carrying papers and said he planned to "deliver a letter to Congress."

"It's really unknown at this point what his intention was," Manger said. "There's no indication right now that it had anything to do with the election."

Manger said officers are still interviewing the suspect and added that the Israel-Hamas War may have been one of the reasons he attempted to enter the Capitol.

Officers located the man's vehicle parked a few blocks away.

Washington, D.C. is on high alert for potential violence related to the presidential election after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot took many by surprise. Storefronts are boarded up downtown, and the Capitol Police said the Capitol Visitor Center – where the man attempted to enter the building – will be closed for the rest of the day.-Riley Begin

U.S. Capitol Police stop man with torch

The Capitol Police announced on X, formerly Twitter, that they arrested a man with materials that could be used to start a fire.

"Our officers just arrested a man who was stopped during our screening process at the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). The man smelled like fuel, had a torch & a flare gun," their post on X said.

"The CVC is closed for tours for the day, while we investigate. We will provide more information when we can."

-Ben Adler

FBI: election bomb threats ‘appear to originate from Russian email domains’

The FBI announced Tuesday that bomb threats were made to polling locations in several states, and many of the threats “appear to originate from Russian email domains.”

None of the threats have been determined to be credible so far, the agency said.

“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 FBI said in a statement. “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.”

-Bart Jansen

MS state representative wants to change ballot order, upset over Trump placement

Mississippi House Rep. Fred Shanks, R-Brandon, posted on Facebook Tuesday morning that he received complaints about the order of candidates for U.S. president, and he now plans to file a bill to "correct" the order in future elections.

Shanks was referring to the fact that Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump is listed fifth on the Mississippi ballot while Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris is first.

-Grant McLaughlin

Secretary of State in Mississippi reports election workers not placing ballots in machines

Mississippi Secretary of State's Office Communications Director Elizabeth Jonson said at about 11 a.m. the office received reports of poll workers at Casey Elementary School in Jackson putting ballots inside boxes instead of voting machines.

Jonson said a poll monitor has been sent to ensure those ballots are counted into the machine and assess the situation further.

Jonson also said the office has received several reports of people campaigning with signs within 150 feet of polling locations. Campaign images or signs cannot be posted anywhere inside a polling location.

"That's definitely an issue," Jonson said.

Jonson said despite a few hiccups, Election Day is going smoothly.

"It's been a good election so far," Jonson said. "It's extremely busy. It's been steady. We're proud of the turnout. We've gotten pictures from across the state of lines wrapped around buildings. So obviously, Mississippians are showing up to vote, which we're most proud of."

-Grant McLaughlin, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Voting issues reported at three locations in Alabama

At least three Alabama sites reported voting problems Tuesday morning, according to election officials and a civil rights organization.

Two tabulators were broken at the Hawkins Park Recreation Center in Birmingham, delaying voting, according to the ACLU of Alabama said. The organization said one tabulator has been replaced by mid-morning, but officials are unsure if or when the second machine will also be replaced.

In the same county, the Center Point Community Center has also reported that two of its voting machines are broken.

In St. Clair County, voting had been delayed due to misprinted ballots, which were missing a statewide amendment and a local one.

-Victor Hagan

Georgia secretary of state elaborates on Russian bomb threat

In an early afternoon press conference, Raffensperger clarified that a bomb threat from Russia that he described Tuesday morning had affected between five and seven precincts in multiple Georgia counties.

Raffensperger indicated the federal government was involved in identifying the threat, but declined to elaborate further on which law enforcement agencies responded or how he knew the threat came from Russia.

He said the threat was dealt with Tuesday morning and law enforcement was on top of it.

– Aysha Bagchi

Police for Atlanta's Fulton County responded to polling place threats

The Fulton County Police Department said in a Tuesday statement that it has responded to "multiple calls regarding threats" at polling places since the places opened in the morning.

"We have investigated each of these and found no active threats," the department said.

Two polling places in Union City, Georgia needed to be closed "for a short duration" due to the threats, but are now open, according to the statement.

The department warned that individuals found to have made threats that are disruptive to the voting process will face charges.

Fulton County is home to Atlanta and is Georgia's most populous county. It is a major source of Democratic votes in the closely divided swing state.

– Aysha Bagchi

RNC walks back claims on election observer limits at Milwaukee polling places

The Republican National Committee conceded in court Tuesday no elections observers were being restricted at Milwaukee's polling places, walking back claims it made in a lawsuit filed a day earlier on the eve of the 2024 General Election.

The lawsuit was born out of concerns raised during the early in-person absentee voting period, and sought an "immediate" restraining order prohibiting the commission from imposing "arbitrary" restrictions on the number of observers at polling locations, among other relief.

Kevin M. Scott, a lawyer for the RNC, said during a motion hearing that RNC officials toured the city's Central Count site Monday night and that he had been in contact with observers "at about 10 different sites" on Tuesday.

"There seems to be no issues." Scott said. “The issues we believed were present are not present any more."

-Chris Ramirez

Georgia bomb threat blamed on Russians: Raffensperger

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger confirmed Tuesday a bomb threat was made against a polling place, but he said it was of Russian origin and not credible.

“In the interest of public safety, you always check that out,” Raffensperger said.

“They’re up to mischief it seems,” he added, about the Russians. “They don’t want us to a smooth, fair and accurate election.”

Russians were also blamed for a cyber attack against his office’s web site on Oct. 14 called a denial-of-service attack. But Raffensperger said the office added a question about whether each visitor to the web site was a human and it curtailed the attack. Georgia received Russian-origin bomb threat: Secretary of stateGeorgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a Tuesday morning press conference that there have been "some threats" of Russian origin tied to the election. He later clarified he was speaking about "a bomb threat."

Raffensperger added that he doesn't think the threats are viable

"In the interest of public safety, we always check that out, and we'll just continue to be very responsive when we hear about stuff like that," Raffensperger said.

Raffensperger likened the threat to a thwarted Oct. 14 cyberattack that appeared to be trying to shut down the state's website for voters to request absentee ballots. Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Secretary of State's Office, said previously that appeared to be a foreign attack.Raffensperger said he is confident the bomb threat came from Russia, although he didn't explain how he knows that.

"They're up to mischief it seems, and they don't want us to have a smooth, fai,r and accurate election," Raffensperger said.

"That tells you a little bit about the Russians. They are not our friends. Anyone that thinks they are hasn't been reading the newspapers," he added.– Aysha Bagchi

Pennsylvania Democratic AG candidate ready to defend state election results

Eugene DePasquale, the Democratic candidate for Attorney General of Pennsylvania, said he is prepared to represent the state in election litigation if it continues past his potential inauguration. He is on the ballot, running against Republican Dave Sunday.

He said his priorities are, “Number one — make sure whoever the voters wanted to be president that that’s who gets ratified in Pennsylvania,” DePasquale said. He said he and his opponent are friendly and are prepared to accept the results of the election.

He said there is most likely to be litigation if the outcome is close, but if a candidate wins by 3 percentage points or more, litigation becomes less likely. He also said he is not concerned about violence, and praised the poll workers inside Ebenezer Baptist Church in Pittsburgh for their hard work.

“There may be a certain individual who candidates on both sides agree may be the biggest cry baby out there on this issue,” DePasquale said, referring to Donald Trump. “I can’t control whether someone who’s nearly 80 years old still hasn’t grown up yet. That’s not my issue. But I think everyone else will be fine.”

— Erin Mansfield 

Polls open until 10 p.m. in Cambria County, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Department of State has officially moved the end of voting in Cambria County to 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The decision was made based on a petition by Cambria County Court because software problems with the county's voting system prevented voters Tuesday morning from scanning their completed ballots. The polling places have had to move to paper ballots, which has resulted in long lines and many people leaving before casting their votes, the state reported.

As of 11 a.m., the software problem still had not been resolved.

-Patrick O'Shea, Somerset Daily American

No 'major incidents' Tuesday morning, top N.C. election official says

North Carolina is a critical and closely watched swing state that Democrats are eager to flip and Republicans are confident they can hold in the 2024 presidential contest.

Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said at a press conference Tuesday morning that the Tar Heel State hasn't had significant issues thus far, including in the areas struck by Hurricane Helene.

"We have not heard reports of any major incidents at any polling places," she said. "We also have not heard reports of long lines today, it is a good day to go vote."

Bell stressed how the initial results are unofficial in the days after the election, but that the bipartisan election officials in all 100 counties "will ensure every eligible ballot is counted."

— Phillip M. Bailey

'Smooth sailing': Georgia secretary of state says average line time is two minutes

"So far, it's just been smooth sailing, by and large," Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said of voting on Election Day in the Peach State at a Tuesday morning press conference.

The average line time in Georgia is currently two minutes and the average check-in on electronic poll pads is taking just 49 seconds, he said.

Georgia already saw huge turnout during its early voting period, which closed Friday, with more than 4 million people casting votes. In 2020, about 2.7 million voters cast ballots during the early voting period.

Raffensperger suggested short wait times in the state were boosting voters' willingness to make their voices heard.

"It's just solid, steady, and it's more than you would think because the lines are moving so quickly – people in and out in less than 10 minutes," he said Tuesday.

– Aysha Bagchi

Federal judge refuses to block DOJ election monitors in Texas, but observers won't enter polling places

A federal judge rejected a lawsuit Tuesday from Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sought to block Justice Department observers from monitoring polling places, but federal officials agreed observers wouldn’t enter voting sites.

The department had announced Friday it would send monitors to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states, including eight counties in Texas, one of which includes Houston, to ensure that voting laws are enforced and all eligible voters have access to ballots.

The counties being monitored are Atacosa, Bexar, Dallas, Frio, Harris, Hays, Palo Pinto and Waller.

Paxton filed the lawsuit arguing that monitors infringe on the state’s “constitutional authority to run free and fair elections.” The lawsuit said Texas law lists who may be present at voting locations and counting stations, and federal authorities aren’t included.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk refused to block the monitors.

But Paxton declared victory in the dispute after reaching an agreement with federal officials for observers to remain at least 100 feet outside polling places.

“Texans run Texas elections, and we will not be bullied by the Department of Justice,” Paxton said in a statement.

-Bart Jansen

New Mexico election worker dismissed 

In Do?a Ana County, New Mexico, County Clerk Amanda Lopez Askin confirmed to several media outlets that a poll worker had been dismissed for comments he made on an online platform, patriots.win.

Alfred Cabrales  allegedly said he would be willing to secretly record voters on Election Day.

Lopez Askin, said to a KVIA reporter that while Cabrales' comments were not illegal, his intention was disturbing.

Patriots.win is an online platform, akin to Reddit, that is devoted to supporting Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Cabrales was posted as an election worker at a northern Do?a Ana County polling location. Lopez Askin, according to KVIA, said dismissals of election workers are not uncommon.

This story is developing and more information will be shared when it becomes available.

Reported by the staff at the Las Cruces Sun-News.

Pittsburgh trying to count absentees quickly

Pennsylvania is one of only two swing states, the other being Wisconsin, that doesn't allow absentee ballots to be opened and counted before Election Day, which increases the likelihood of a long wait for results from the Keystone State, whose 19 Electoral College votes may prove decisive to the presidential election outcome.

But the county surrounding Pittsburgh is trying to count those ballots as quickly as possible.

By 9:15 am, Allegheny County had opened the outer envelopes of about 100,000 absentee ballots, according to county spokesperson Abigail Gardner. Absentee ballots have inner secrecy envelopes that need to be opened in order to get the ballot out and put it in a machine to be counted.Gardner previously told USA TODAY she expected the county to process about 250,000 absentee ballots for the election.

-Erin Mansfield and Ben Adler

FBI warns about fake FBI videos claiming 'high terror threat' at polling stations, rigged prison voting

The FBI is warning this morning about a fake news video claiming to be an FBI alert telling Americans to “vote remotely” due to a “high terror threat” at polling stations – and another with false claims of rigged prison inmate voting.

In a statement released to USA TODAY, the FBI said it was made aware of “two instances of its name and insignia being misused in promoting false narratives surrounding the election.”

The first, the FBI said, is a “fabricated news clip purporting to be a terrorist warning issued by the FBI.”That fake news clip reports falsely that the FBI purportedly stated that Americans should “vote remotely” due to the high terror threat at polling stations. “This video is not authentic and does not accurately represent the current threat posture or polling location safety,” the FBI said.

Another fabricated video circulating online contains a fake FBI press release that alleges that the management of five prisons in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona rigged inmate voting and colluded with a political party. “This video is also not authentic, and its contents are false,” the FBI said.

?Josh Meyer

Georgia judge rejects GOP lawsuit that sought to prevent ballot acceptance during weekend

A county judge in Georgia rejected a last-minute Republican lawsuit that sought to prevent election workers in Fulton County from accepting absentee ballots the weekend before Election Day.

The state election law restricted the hours voters could return absentee ballots to drop boxes. In a lawsuit filed Friday, the Republican National Committee and state Republican Party alleged Fulton County officials were violating the law by accepting the ballots outside regular office hours.

But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer quoted the law aloud to GOP lawyers during an emergency hearing.

“’Such envelope shall then be securely sealed, and the Elector shall then personally mail or personally deliver same to the board of registrars or absentee ballot clerk,’” Farmer said. “That seems to indicate that personal delivery to the registrar and not to a drop box, is kosher. And more than kosher, lawful.”

Republicans filed a second lawsuit in federal court in Savannah on Sunday, making the same argument against accepting ballots in seven Democratic-leaning counties: Chatham, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett.

The federal court hadn’t ruled on the argument by late Monday.

?Maya Homan, Savannah Morning News

New voter ID law will be tested in N.C.

North Carolina’s elected leaders have been jousting over election regulations months ahead of the 2024 presidential election, but of all the new rules the state’s voter ID law worries Democrats and their allies the most.

They fear it could be used to deter turnout or throw out votes of core constituencies: the elderly, students, racial minorities and low-income voters.

A lawsuit by North Carolina Republicans, for example, blocked University of North Carolina Chapel Hill students using their mobile digital IDs to vote after the State Board of Elections approved the use.

All voters are still allowed to vote with or without a photo ID, according to the board, but voters who cannot show identification must fill out a form explaining why before casting a provisional ballot that is susceptible to being challenged before the final tally is certified.

Matt Mercer, spokesman for the North Carolina GOP, said the state’s record 4.2 million in-person early voting ballots undercuts “radical” Democrat’s criticisms about the law’s impact.

“We trust the voters of North Carolina and their common sense belief that identification should be required,” he said.

?Phillip M. Bailey

Georgia poll worker charged with bomb threat

A Georgia poll worker was arrested Monday and charged with mailing a letter to the Jones County elections superintendent that threatened poll workers.

Nicholas Wimbish, 25, of Milledgeville, Georgia, was serving as a poll worker on Oct. 16 when he had a verbal fight with a voter, according to prosecutors. Later that day, Wimbish allegedly wrote a letter posing as the voter to the county elections superintendent that said Wimbish and others “will get the treason punishment by firing squad if they fight back” and women would get “rage rape,” according to prosecutors. The handwritten note concluded: “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe.”

Wimbish is charged with mailing a bomb threat, conveying false information about a bomb threat, mailing a threatening letter and making false statements to the FBI. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.

?Bart Jansen

RNC sues Milwaukee Election Commission over polling observer rules

The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Monday accusing the Election Commission in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, of “arbitrarily” limiting the number of observers during early voting and on Election Day, which officials denied.

The lawsuit argued the city would limit observers to one Republican and one Democrat at polling locations Tuesday, casting “doubt on the administration of our elections” and causing “a lack of voter confidence in our electoral process.”

But the commission’s executive director, Paulina Gutiérrez, said state law allows reasonable limitations on observers. The Republican Party was never denied the presence of an observer during early voting or on Election Day, she said.

?Allison Dirr, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Russia ramps up effort to push fake news, US intelligence agencies say

Russia is ramping up its effort to undermine the legitimacy of the election by spreading fake news stories about how officials in key battleground states are preparing to commit election fraud, U.S. intelligence agencies say.

Although other countries like Iran and China are meddling somewhat in the election as they have in the past, “Russia is the most active threat,” according to a joint statement released Monday night by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

“Influence actors linked to Russia in particular are manufacturing videos and creating fake articles to undermine the legitimacy of the election, instill fear in voters regarding the election process, and suggest Americans are using violence against each other due to political preferences,” the agencies said. “We anticipate Russian actors will release additional manufactured content with these themes through election day and in the days and weeks after polls close.”

The new warning is the latest in a series of bulletins from the intelligence agencies warning about Russia’s efforts to manipulate public opinion in the U.S. to help elect former President Donald Trump and smear his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

—Josh Meyer

Where are the violent groups of the 2020 election?

Threats of political violence, intimidation and insurrection have surged across the online extremist ecosystem in recent weeks, driven by a network of conspiracy theorists, disinformation peddlers and propagandists.

With tensions and rhetoric sky-high, experts who monitor domestic extremists say they're watching for what many feel is an inevitable violent post-election showdown, possibly along the lines of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

They also note that 2024 is different from 2020.

The pro-Trump groups and communities that helped organize the Jan. 6 Capitol riot remain largely fragmented and have barely been seen in public for years. Trump, while still drawing crowds, does not have a track record post-2020 of organizing mass protests. And, perhaps most crucially, disgruntled members of the far-right have not, so far, gathered on the streets in the same way they did in the run-up to the 2020 election, said Megan Squire, deputy director for data analytics at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

?Will Carless

State-by-state election results 

Alabama | Alaska | Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maine | Maryland | Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Vermont | Virginia | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming

Thousands of Pennsylvania ballots challenged

Thousands of Pennsylvania ballots have been challenged by questioning the eligibility of overseas voters.

By Saturday, state officials counted more than 3,600 total challenges to overseas ballot applications. These included 1,200 in Bucks County, 350 in York County and 127 in Beaver County.

The challenges came after the dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed by six Republican congressmen who wanted the state to set aside military and overseas ballots for additional vetting. The Bucks County challenges were filed by state GOP Sen. Jarrett Coleman, according to county spokesman Jim O'Malley.

Voting rights groups condemned the challenges, which they said were made by election deniers. Deborah Hinchey, state director of the advocacy group All Voting is Local Pennsylvania, said “these baseless challenges have failed before and the proper checks and balances are in place to make sure they’ll fail again.”

?Bethany Rodgers, The Erie Times-News

Influential bar association leaders put lawyers on notice not to file politically motivated election lawsuits

A group of 125 current and past presidents of the country’s local, state and national bar associations have signed a letter putting lawyers on notice of their professional obligations – including not filing false lawsuits in an effort to overturn an election result they don’t like.

The letter, published Monday night and organized by the American Bar Association’s Task Force for American Democracy, noted that dozens of lawsuits in seven swing states have already been filed this year, including one new lawsuit per day in October, citing news reports.

“Many of these lawsuits aim to tighten ballot rules by purging voter lists and imposing stricter requirements on mail voting, even though there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud,” the letter said. “A baseless lawsuit not only squanders judicial resources but also undermines the public’s trust in our democracy and our profession.”

The letter noted how some 628 legal cases were filed following the 2020 election, alleging fraud or impropriety, “and they were overwhelmingly unsuccessful,” and often filed without legal merit.

“As such, lawsuits must be grounded in fact, supported by law and free from improper motives,” the bar association members said. “This ethical foundation prevents the courts from being misused to sow confusion, pursue a political agenda or harass opponents.”

—Josh Meyer

Election Day violence: How likely is it? Here's what experts predict.

Trump-aligned group says it's suing no matter what

A Trump-aligned group that has filed lawsuits in several swing states challenging voter registration lists is already planning to sue over this year's election results, one of the group's founders told USA TODAY.

"We feel compelled to file in defense of this beautiful country," said Marly Hornik, who co-founded United Sovereign Americans in 2023. "We already have signs and numbers coming in of errors inside of the process."

The organization, which describes itself as nonpartisan, is regularly represented by Bruce Castor, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Fence around While House: A signal of unease for visitors and voters

Election results: Trump-aligned group is already planning lawsuits

Lawsuits from both the group and Republican organizations suggest widespread voter fraud could be happening – without providing proof that it is.

The claims feed into the false narrative from former President Donald Trump that he didn't lose the 2020 election, which critics fear is a precursor to claiming similar election theft if he loses again. Numerous counts and audits showed President Joe Biden won the last presidential election. Nearly all of more than 60 lawsuits from Trump allies in the wake of that election failed.

?Aysha Bagshi

For N.C. activists, ‘E-Day’ isn’t the end

Americans eager for the 2024 presidential race to end may not get their wish on Tuesday as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump's allies are gaming out a prolonged election battle.

The Harris campaign told reporters Monday the country might not know the election result "for several days," given the different count rules in the seven critical swing states. Few places will be as closely watched as North Carolina, where Trump defeated then-candidate Joe Biden by 73,697 votes, or 1.3%, four years ago, his narrowest victory in any state in 2020.

"No one here actually expects full resolution on E-Day," Todd Zimmer, co-founder of Down Home Carolina, a progressive-leaning nonprofit group, told USA Today, referring to Election Day.

In a memo provided to USA Today, the group, which focuses on organizing in rural areas, advised its canvassers to be ready to help fix voter’s provisional ballots in case of a recount scenario where those votes could be challenged. He said many activists, whether liberal or conservative, anticipate days or possibly weeks of administrative jockeying and legal maneuvering over election rules.

"It almost seems the foregone conclusion is we expect a recount or some kind of post-election activity to secure the popular vote beyond the vote itself, and that does feel new," Zimmer said.

?Phillip M. Bailey

Federal judge in Missouri rejects GOP request to bar DOJ monitors from polling sites

A federal judge rejected an attempt Monday by Republican Missouri officials to block election monitors from the Justice Department at polling places in St. Louis on Election Day.

The department had announced Friday that St. Louis was one of 86 jurisdictions in 27 states where federal monitors would be posted to ensure election officials complied with federal voting laws.

The St. Louis monitoring falls under a settlement agreement between the city and the department over compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft filed a lawsuit Monday to block the federal monitors by arguing they had no permit to enter polling locations. But U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk cited the settlement agreement, which runs through July 11, 2025, to justify the monitors watching for potential irregularities.

“In practical terms, the expected harm is monitoring by two individuals at one polling place to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as contemplated by an agreement that has been in place for several years, and as already done at least twice without incident,” Pitlyk wrote.?Bart Jansen

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election day drama: Live coverage of the snags as Americans vote