A Georgia poll worker was arrested on Monday in the United States on charges of sending a letter threatening to bomb election workers, which he wrote to make it appear as though it had come from a voter in the presidential election battleground state.
Federal prosecutors said Nicholas Wimbish, 25, was serving as a poll worker at the Jones County Elections Office in Gray, Georgia, on October 16, when he became involved in a verbal altercation with a voter. The following day, Wimbish allegedly posted a letter to the county’s elections superintendent, which he had crafted to look as though it was sent by that same voter. The letter accused Wimbish of being a “closeted liberal election fraudster” who was distracting voters waiting to cast their ballots, according to court documents.
The letter, signed by a “Jones County voter,” warned that Wimbish and others “should look over their shoulder” and threatened that people would “learn a violent lesson about stealing our elections!”
Prosecutors said the letter ended with a handwritten note: “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe.”
Wimbish has been charged with mailing a bomb threat, conveying false information about a bomb threat, mailing a threatening letter, and making false statements to the FBI, prosecutors confirmed. A lawyer for Wimbish could not be immediately identified.
Georgia is one of seven closely contested states expected to determine the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election between Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Concerns over possible political violence have prompted officials to take a range of security measures in preparation for Election Day and its aftermath.