US 2024 election marred by arrests, bomb threats and EVMs malfunction as Americans hit the polls

US 2024 election: Reports of bomb threats, arrests, and malfunctioning polling machines, especially in four swing states, marked the opening of America's contentious presidential election on Tuesday.

In addition to voting machines malfunctioning at a Pennsylvania station, suspects have been taken into custody in connection with bomb threats and violence related to elections in Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Washington, DC.

Even if these incidents have not even come close to tainting the November 5 vote, the nation is nonetheless on edge due to unproven allegations of ballot tampering and lingering memories of violence following the 2020 election.

Republican contender Donald Trump has warned of widespread cheating in the 2024 contest on numerous occasions. He encouraged his supporters and staff to be “watching to make sure there is no cheating” after casting his own ballot along with his Melania Trump in Palm Beach, Florida.

“A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law enforcement coming!!!” Trump wrote Truth Social on Tuesday.

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Trump has been making unfounded accusations of election fraud in Philadelphia for years. At a rally in September in Pennsylvania, he made similar accusations earlier this autumn when he stated, without providing any details, that “they cheat in this state, especially in Philadelphia.”

Amidst this delicate situation, 350 National Guard personnel have been deployed to support the elections and combat cyberthreats, while troops were activated in Washington, DC, and at least 18 states, including several of the electoral battlegrounds.

Georgia Voting and bomb threats

Voting in Georgia, a pivotal state in Trump's campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, was tainted by the arrest of a poll worker and allegations of a bomb threat from a foreign adversary.

A 25-year-old man named Nicholas Wimbish was detained on Monday after he allegedly sent a letter to fellow poll workers threatening them with rape, a bomb threat and a “beatdown.”

According to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, election officials in Fulton County's Union City were forced to evacuate two polling places after receiving bomb threats from a “foreign state actor.”

Five bomb threats were reported to law enforcement, but they were judged untrue, according to local officials. Raffensperger has charged Russia in the past with trying to sabotage the state's elections.

The FBI claims that additional threats against voting places in Wisconsin and Michigan were not “credible.” It seemed that Russian email domains were the source of many of the threats.

The FBI agents in Michigan have detained two individuals for allegedly threatening Trump and hinting to an assassination plan.

According to materials released on Tuesday, the investigation into the arrest of the transient, Isaac Sissel, in a Canton Township hotel began last month with threats against Trump made on Reddit by a user going by the handle “ShootUpTrumpRally.”

HT in US: Special Coverage of the American elections by Prashant Jha

In addition, Christopher Clay Pierce, 46, of Jackson, Michigan, was taken into custody for allegedly threatening an unnamed political action group.

Man arrested with flare gun at US Capitol

Meanwhile, US Capitol Police informed that they had apprehended a man who tried to get into the Capitol Visitor Center, which serves as the entry point for tours of the Capitol buildings. He was arrested on Tuesday while brandishing a torch and a flare pistol.

The man was halted during the screening process when officials noted that he “smelled like fuel,” according to a post on X.

Pennsylvania county voting machines abruptly stopped functioning

Voting in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, possibly the most hotly contested battlefield in this year's election, became chaotic on election day after voting machines abruptly stopped functioning.

Voters were instructed not to put their ballots into the computerized system but to place them in a box.

Bloodshed has already taken place in the 2024 election, including two assassination attempts om Trump.

Meanwhile, Harris has referred to Trump as a “threat” to democracy, while President Joe Biden has referred to the MAGA Republican's followers as “garbage.”

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