Election security: Officials say 2024 election saw only 'minor' disruptive activities

Voting hours were extended at a number of polling sites due to technical issues.

ByLuke Barr, Peter Charalambous, Olivia Rubin, Lucien Bruggeman, Laura Romero, Alexandra Hutzler, David Brennan, Patricio Chile, Julia Reinstein, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: November 6, 2024, 12:27 AM EST

From the polling place to the courtroom, ABC News tracks the latest election security developments on Election Day 2024 as experts warn about the spread of misinformation and disinformation from within the U.S. and abroad.

Security experts stress that the nation's voting infrastructure is highly secure, and that isolated voting issues do not indicate widespread election fraud.

For coverage of each race, see our election updates.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing:
Nov 4, 10:33 am

How to watch ABC News coverage of Election Day

On Election Day, voters around the country will eagerly wait to hear if former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris comes out on top in the race for the White House.

ABC News will have full coverage of the presidential election results and many other key down-ballot races on Election Day and the days afterward as votes continue to get counted.

Here's how to watch ABC News live coverage of 2024 election results.

Nov 05, 2024, 2:31 PM EST

Law enforcement agencies prepared for unrest beyond Election Day

Law enforcement officials say they're prepared to deal with unrest on Election Day, but expect the threat to continue in the days that follow.

Election workers across the country are being bombarded with threats and law enforcement agencies nationwide are dedicating "substantial resources" to ensure public safety during the election, a new threat assessment obtained by ABC News says.

"It is more likely that in the aftermath of the election results and the counting of the Electoral College votes, that individuals who believe that the election was rigged, stolen, or unfairly decided could decide to conduct lone offender or lone wolf attacks in response," said Javed Ali, the former senior counterterrorism coordinator at the National Security Council and now an associate professor at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Read more here.

-ABC News' Luke Barr

Nov 05, 2024, 2:15 PM EST

FBI says election threats appear to originate from Russia

The FBI said in a statement that they are aware of bomb threats in "several states" and "many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains."

"None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far," the FBI said.

Earlier, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said a series of bomb threats in Fulton County appeared to come from Russia, but did not explain further.

"As always, we urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to state or local law enforcement, or submit tips to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or online at tips.fbi.gov," the agency said.

-ABC News' Luke Barr and Pierre Thomas

Nov 05, 2024, 2:06 PM EST

National voter hotline receives 6,000 calls, reports no major issues

Representatives from the nation's largest voter help hotline echoed what ABC News heard from state election officials in the battlegrounds: So far, so good. There have been no major disruptions or other issues beyond isolated, garden-variety episodes, the hotline said.

The Election Protection Hotline (1-866-OUR-VOTE) is run by the nonpartisan Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and is staffed by 4,776 volunteer lawyers across 50 states. ABC News has profiled and embedded with this service in previous elections.

As of noon ET, the hotline has received 6,000 calls from voters. The majority of the calls have come in from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and Michigan.

People queue to vote in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Election Day in Asheville, N.C., Nov. 5, 2024.
Jonathan Drake/Reuters

Most of those were reporting frustration with long lines, delays in polling place opening, or difficulty using electronic voting machines.

So far, organizers have seen no widespread episodes of violence or intimidation.

The longest lines tracked by hotline are in Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania, particularly near college campuses. Legal teams are seeking voting extensions at select polling places in Georgia, Illinois and Kentucky, where there were delays in opening this morning -- but nothing out of the ordinary.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

Nov 05, 2024, 1:38 PM EST

Arizona county official refutes misinformation about voting centers being shut down

At a press conference, a Maricopa County official debunked misinformation circulating on X about voting centers in the county being shut down due to issues with the printers.

"There have been no vote centers that have been shut down," said Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates.

Earlier today, Tyler Bowyer, an executive with Turning Point USA who was charged in the Arizona 2020 fake elector case, posted on X that the right-wing group was sending buses to move people to functioning voting centers in Maricopa County.

"We have reports of multiple vote centers with ink issues in Maricopa County," Bowyer posted.

Gates said the printers are being serviced as usual. "We are out there going ahead and servicing the printers as we normally would," the Maricopa County official said in response to Bowyer's tweets.

The Maricopa County supervisor said that as of Monday, more than 1.5 million voters in the county had returned early ballots. About 70- 75% of those votes will be reported in the first batch of results at 8 p.m., he said.

Gates also said that if voters get in line at 7 p.m., they will have an opportunity to vote no matter how long lines are.

"Stay in line and go ahead and vote," he said.

-ABC News' Laura Romero