Election officials in Florida and Alaska received reports from registered voters on Wednesday that they received emails that said “Vote for Trump or else!” The FBI was contacted by election officials in both states.
The emails were sent using foreign internet infrastructure, and that they came from an email address that is suspected to be from a far-right group threatening Americans to vote for President Donald Trump. Some emails even threatened that “they” would come for the recipient if they didn’t vote for Trump, although “they” was never specified by the email.
TJ Pyche, spokesperson for Alachua County Supervisor of Elections in Florida, said he was “flooded with phone calls and emails” regarding the messages from voters on Tuesday. He reached out to all levels of law enforcement, including the FBI.
In Alaska, Tiffany Montemayor, spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Elections, said that they are aware many Alaskans are also receiving emails, and that the Division has “forwarded that information to the appropriate federal agencies” to resolve the problem.
“While we are looking into the emails, we can tell you this: your vote IS secret,” a spokesperson for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a statement regarding the emails. “These emails are meant to intimidate and undermine American voters’ confidence in our elections. Don’t fall for sensational and unverified claims. Visit CISA.gov/rumorcontrol to get more facts about elections and election security.”
While many of the emails were sent from an address named “info@officialproudboys.com,” Enrique Tarrio, chairman of the Proud Boys, said that the messages were “definitely not” from his group.
“We have spoken to the FBI and are working with them. I hope whoever did this is arrested for voter intimidation and for maliciously impersonating our group,” said Tarrio in a statement. Tarrio explained that while the website “Officialproudboys.com” is one of the group’s sites, it has not been active in weeks, as the group has transferred to using a different website. He also said that the group does not send emails.
