Latest bomb threat targets L.A. County Registrar’s Norwalk headquarters
The L.A. County Registrar-Recorder’s headquarters in Norwalk received a bomb threat Saturday — the latest in a string of threats targeting vote counters and polling centers across the region and country.
No explosives were found at the site. An investigation is currently underway, according to L.A. County Registrar clerk Dean Logan.
“We take all such threats seriously and are working closely with the FBI, state authorities, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to ensure the safety of our staff and community and maintain uninterrupted operations,” Logan said in a statement. “These threats and efforts to disrupt the legal, transparent, and secure process of counting all eligible ballots have no place in our electoral process.”
The threat came via email, according to L.A. County Registrar spokesperson Mike Sanchez. No employees were present, and none were scheduled to work at the office until Tuesday.
The source of the threat may have gotten their addresses mixed up — ballot processing centers have been the targets of a number of recent bomb threats, but the one for L.A. County is at a facility in Industry, not Norwalk. Authorities swept that facility as well and found nothing suspicious.
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On election day, the FBI said it was aware of fake bomb threats made to polling locations in several states, noting that many of them appeared to originate from Russian email domains.
Other Southern California voting hubs were targeted after the polls closed. The San Diego County Registrar of Voters Office received a bomb threat Friday night but concluded that the threat was not credible, authorities said.
Registrars’ offices in Orange and Riverside counties were evacuated Friday evening after receiving bomb threats, but no explosives were located at either site, authorities said.
All staff and members of the public at the Orange County Registrar of Voters were evacuated from the Santa Ana office 15 minutes before the facility was scheduled to stop processing ballots, officials said in a statement. Orange County sheriff’s deputies were already on site and coordinated evacuating the building at 1300 S. Grand Ave.
Bomb detection dogs were used to search the entire building, and no explosives were found.
“The Orange County Registrar of Voters is committed to ensuring equal access to the election process, protecting the integrity of votes, and maintaining a transparent, accurate and fair election system,” Registrar of Voters Bob Page said in a statement. “We are working diligently to address this incident and keep all staff and members of the public who visit our office safe.”
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A similar unfounded threat was also received by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters on Friday evening at its office in Riverside.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was immediately notified, and members of the public and staff were evacuated from the site at 2720 Gateway Drive within five minutes. Sheriff’s deputies and bomb squad members conducted a thorough search and found no explosives, according to the registrar.
“The county of Riverside Registrar of Voters remains committed to the safety of the public and our staff,” officials said in a statement. “We continue to prioritize transparency and encourage the public to observe all processes as we ensure a fair, accurate and transparent election.”
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters Office was sent a bomb threat via email Friday night, prompting the sheriff’s office to evacuate more than 100 employees, but sweeps by bomb-sniffing dogs found nothing suspicious.
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