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.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!”
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 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.
