WASHINGTON: Several Maryland boards of elections received bomb threats on Friday night, state authorities said, adding election officials were counting mail-in ballots when the threats came and that everyone was safe.

State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis said the threats led to evacuation of some buildings. He called the threats “cowardly,” adding local officials will resume canvassing on Saturday.

“Safety is top concern - but we WILL resume canvassing tomorrow. Cowardly threats whether from abroad or not shall not deter us,” DeMarinis said on social media platform X.

“The Baltimore County Police Department is aware and currently investigating the bomb threat received via email by the Baltimore County Board of Elections Office,” police postedon X, later adding that a probe found that threat unfounded.

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Republican Donald Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election. Counting continued in parts of the country in local, congressional and presidential races.

The FBI said that hoax bomb threats, many of which appeared to originate from Russian email domains, were directed on Tuesday at polling locations in five battleground states - Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – as Election Day voting was under way. Russia denies interfering in U.S. elections.

Ahead of the elections, officials in some states had braced for attacks and threats arising from misinformation and conspiracy theories about the vote.