WASHINGTON (AP) – election day Elections ran largely smoothly across the country on Tuesday, with only isolated reports of delays due to extreme weather conditions, errors in printing ballots and technical problems.

Most hiccups The events occurring through midday were “broadly expected, routine and planned events,” Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in a news conference. She said the agency is not currently tracking nationwide, significant incidents impacting election security.

In the swing state of Pennsylvania, early reports that Republican poll watchers were barred from some polling stations were soon resolved. A Pennsylvania state judge ordered polls to remain open for two more hours in Cambria County, which voted 68% for former President Donald Trump in 2020. The ballot boxes were turned away and said all ballots would be counted.

A technical glitch in Champaign County, Illinois, and problems with e-pollbooks in Louisville, Kentucky also delayed voting, but those problems were soon resolved and voting resumed. In Maricopa County, Arizona, a polling place experienced slight delays because a worker forgot to bring a key.

In Missouri, a polling place in the St. Louis area was difficult to reach due to flooding and another polling place was without power, forcing poll workers to rely on a generator to continue polling operations. Still, voters in various rain-hit states enthusiastically huddled under umbrellas to cast their ballots.

“We will be like postal workers: rain, snow or sleet,” said voter Mary Roszkowski after casting her vote in windy Racine, Wisconsin, wiping raindrops from her face.

In Maine, at least three high schools that served as polling places faced hoaxes about shooters, but voting continued uninterrupted as police confirmed the calls were hoaxes. In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said there had been some reports of bomb threats against polling places, but they were all deemed unreliable and authorities were investigating.

The FBI said Tuesday afternoon it was aware of several unreliable bomb threats against polling places in several states and said many of them appeared to come from Russian email domains.

The fact that tens of millions of Americans had already cast their votes contributed to the relatively smooth running of the elections on Election Day. That included record numbers of voters in Georgia, North Carolina and other battleground states who could decide the winner.

On Tuesday, the Associated Press' tracking of primaries across the country showed more than that 82 million ballots have already been cast – just over half the total number of votes in the presidential election four years earlier. That's partly because of the Republican voters who were Cast early votes at a higher rate than in the most recent election, after Trump and the Republican National Committee waged a campaign to offset Democrats' longstanding advantage in early voting.

Early in-person voting and absentee voting proceeded without any major problems, aside from some typical glitches that are to be expected in any election. That includes the parts of western North Carolina hit by Hurricane Helene last month. State and local election officials benefit Changes made by the Republican-controlled legislature, achieved a Herculean effort to ensure residents could cast their votes while dealing with power outages, water shortages and flooded streets. That appeared to continue Tuesday as the North Carolina Board of Elections reported no voting issues.

In addition to the hurricanes in North Carolina and Floridathe most worrisome disruptions of the election season so far Arson attacks that damaged ballot papers in two drop boxes near the Oregon-Washington border. There the authorities were looking for the person responsible.

The absence of significant, widespread problems has not stopped Trump, the Republican nominee, or the RNC from doing so now under his rulefrom making numerous claims of fraud or election interference during early voting, one possibility Prelude to challenges after election day.

Trump and Republicans have also warned about the possibility of Democrats recruiting masses of non-citizens to choose, a claim they have made without evidence and that contradicts the data, also from Republican secretaries of state. Research has consistently shown that it is rare for non-citizens to register to vote. Any non-citizen making faces the possibility of criminal charges and deportationa significant negative incentive.

A case of non-citizen voting was uncovered during early voting last month and led to criminal charges in Michigan against a student from China cast an illegal early vote.

This is the first presidential election since then Trump lost to Joe Biden four years ago and began various attempts to do so deal with the result and stay in power. The culmination was the violent attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 to prevent the certification of the results after Trump told his supporters “fight like hell”.

Even now, a solid majority the Republicans believe Trump's lie that Biden was still not legally elected Reviews, Exams And told In the battleground states, everyone confirmed Biden's victory. A survey last month by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed that the Republicans are staying much more skeptical than the Democrats that their ballots will be counted accurately this year.

The aim is to restore voters' trust in a system false claims of widespread fraudSince 2020, Republican lawmakers in more than a dozen states have enacted new voting restrictions. Those rules include shortening the time to request or return a mail-in ballot, reducing the availability of ballot drop boxes and imposing ID requirements.

On the last weekend before Election Day, Trump continued falsely claiming the election was rigged against him and said it should be a presidential winner declared on election nightbefore all ballots are counted.

Vice President Kamala Harris urged voters not to get involved Trump's tactics to question elections. The Democratic candidate told his supporters at a weekend rally in Michigan that the tactic was intended to suggest to people “that their vote doesn’t matter when they vote.” Instead, she urged those who had already voted to encourage their friends to do the same.

Through four years Election lies And Election-related conspiracy theorieslocal election officials were at the door Harassment and even death threats. That's what led to this high sales and resulted in increased security for election offices and polling locations, including Panic buttons and bulletproof glass.

While there were no major reports of malicious cyber activity affecting election offices, foreign actors actively used fake social media profiles and websites to incite partisan hatred and disinformation. In recent weeks, US intelligence officials have done this Attributed to Russia several fake videos claiming voter fraud in presidential swing states.

On the eve of Election Day, they issued a joint statement with federal law enforcement agencies warning that Russia was particularly affected Expansion of its influence activitiesincluding in ways that could incite violence, and would likely continue these efforts long after the vote is cast.

Jen Easterly, the nation's top election security official, urged Americans to rely on state and local election officials for information about elections.

“This is particularly important as we find ourselves in an election cycle with unprecedented levels of disinformation, including the aggressive spread and amplification of disinformation by our foreign adversaries on a greater scale than ever before,” she said. “We cannot allow our foreign adversaries to have a voice in our democracy.”

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to improve its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. Learn more about AP's Democracy Initiative Here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.