The American presidential election was punctuated by several incidents this Tuesday, November 5, without impact on the outcome of the vote at this stage.
A complex organization and a few hiccups. Several incidents disrupted the American presidential election, pushing the electoral authorities to adapt to allow the vote to run smoothly.
>> Kamala Harris ou Donald Trump? The results map updated live
· Donald Trump denounces “cheating” in Philadelphia
Donald Trump spoke on his Truth Social network of “massive fraud” in Philadelphia, in the key state of Pennsylvania, without providing the slightest evidence for these accusations.
“This allegation is absolutely unfounded. This is a new example of disinformation. The vote in Philadelphia took place in complete security,” reacted on X Seth Bluestein, commissioner in charge of electoral operations of the city.
“There is no factual basis within the police department to support this allegation,” district attorney Larry Krasner also denounced on the same network. “If Donald J. Trump has the facts to support his wild claims, we want them now. Right now. We're not holding our breath,” he warned.
· Bomb threats in Georgia
False bomb threats targeted polling stations in the United States, briefly disrupting the vote in Georgia, one of the states where the presidential election is being played out.
The FBI, the American federal police, said in a statement that it was “aware of bomb threats at polling stations in several states, several of which appear to emanate from Russian internet domain names.” “None of these threats have so far been considered credible,” underlines the FBI without specifying the states concerned and calling on the population to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
Police in Fulton County, in Atlanta, the state's main city, reported 32 bomb threats at the end of the day, 27 of which were quickly deemed false and five leading to brief closures of polling stations. In neighboring DeKalb County, similar alerts targeted seven locations, including five polling stations closed as a precaution, according to local authorities. A judge consequently extended voting hours in the offices concerned.
· Poorly closed counting machines in Wisconsin
The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the key states in this election, announced that it would recount around 30,000 postal votes “out of an abundance of caution”.
The decision was made after authorities discovered that the doors of its counting machines had not been closed properly.
“We don't want there to be any questions about the accuracy of the results,” a Milwaukee city spokesperson told CNN, “so we're going to make sure they're tabulated correctly.”
· Malfunctions on voting machines in Iowa and Pennsylvania
In Iowa, some voting machines in Story County experienced malfunctions. County Auditor Lucy Martin told the Des Moines Register newspaper that machines were not reading “certain styles of ballots” at about 12 of the county's 45 polling places. Electoral agents will therefore have to count the ballots by hand in these offices.
“This does not prevent anyone from casting a single ballot. It may impact how quickly we can report results,” said Ashley Hunt Esquivel, spokesperson for the Secretary of State's Office. Iowa cited by CNN.
Similar problems have been seen in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Ballots that could not be read by machines due to a “software problem” will be counted by hand.
· Incidents on a Native American reservation
The Navajo Native American community launched legal action in Apache County, Arizona, after voters encountered problems with machines, missing printed ballots or refusals to identify themselves, a journalist reports from ABC Arizona on X.
A judge then allowed nine polling places in Apache County to stay open two hours longer than the state's cutoff time, to allow voters to exercise their right to vote.
· Signing issues in Nevada
More than 13,000 ballots for the US presidential election may not be counted in Nevada. The fault… with the signatures of several thousand young voters.
In the United States, thousands of people have been able to vote early in recent days. In Nevada, to authenticate ballots sent by mail, voters must sign them, their signature having already been recorded by the authorities when they registered to vote. Except that in Clark and Washoe counties, several thousand signatures don't match.
Jim Acosta, CNN journalist, explained that Nevada authorities have contacted the thousands of young people concerned in recent hours to ensure that their votes are taken into account.
Related News :