US National Guard deployed to aid polls in 15 states: CNN

More than 250 National Guard troops have been mobilised in 15 US states to support the election process, CNN reported on Tuesday.

A National Guard spokesperson told CNN that the deployments are in Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

"A little less than half of the troops are assisting with cybersecurity missions," the spokesperson said, adding that the remaining troops are fulfilling support roles based on requests.

The report affirmed that 85 troops are on standby in Colorado, Washington DC, Florida and Nevada, and are prepared to respond if needed.

External threats

Meanwhile, the FBI warned of bomb threats at polling stations in "multiple" US states on a tense Election Day, adding that none were credible but many appeared to allegedly originate from Russia.

The statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation came as authorities in the US state of Georgia said hoax bomb threats had briefly disrupted voting there Tuesday.

The 2024 US presidential campaign has been a particularly volatile one, and security for Election Day has been ramped up to unprecedented levels, given concerns over possible civil unrest, election chicanery and violence against poll workers.

"The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains," spokeswoman Savannah Syms said in a statement.

"None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far", she added, urging the public to "remain vigilant".