The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 8th, 2024
Today’s Script
(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
State and federal election officials termed most problems encountered in the Nov. 5th Presidential election as routine, with quickly discredited bomb threats and ballot shortages among the worst issues of the day.
The hoax bomb threats, which the FBI quickly traced to a Russian domain, briefly affected some precincts in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. Most locations were operational in less than an hour. In Fulton County, Georgia, 32 precincts received threats, according to the Associated Press.
In Cambria County, Pennsylvania, a ballot printing issue prevented reading by the optical scanners, according to the New York Post. Working ballots arrived by 1:15 pm and were used for the remainder of the day. Polling hours were extended due to the problem.
In Boston, WBUR reports that the Massachusetts Secretary of State is investigating ballot shortages in five to ten precincts. The state had provided adequate ballots, but apparently city election officials didn’t distribute all that was allocated to the precincts and didn’t answer the phone when calls came in for more.
In Milwaukee, access panels to power and USB ports on some optical ballot readers were unsecured when over 30,000 of the over 106,000 absentee ballots were tabulated, according to Votebeat. The panels were secured, the machines reset, and the affected ballots were rerun.
We’ve linked to the local reporting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency – Statement from CISA Director Easterly on the Security of the 2024 Elections
FBI – FBI Statement on Bomb Threats to Polling Locations
Reuters – Hoax bomb threats linked to Russia target polling places in battleground states, FBI says
New York Post – Here’s the real culprit of the massive Election Day problems in Cambria County, Pennsylvania
WBUR – State opens investigation into Boston’s ballot shortages on Election Day
Votebeat WI – Milwaukee starts over with counting of absentee ballots, after open locks are discovered on tabulators
Check Your Voter Registration:
- U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
- USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links
- Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
- Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
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