Centre County, Pennsylvania election office evacuated due to bomb threat. What we know

A bomb threat was emailed in Tuesday night to the Willowbank Office Building, home to Centre County’s elections office, and local police cleared the threat shortly after 8 p.m.

According to Centre County Sheriff Bryan Sampsel, the threat was emailed in about 6:50 p.m., before about 40 or 50 people were evacuated.

In a press release, J.J. De La Cruz, the county’s communications coordinator, wrote that Centre County is among about a dozen Pennsylvania counties to receive threats.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the Willowbank Building was cleared for about an hour while state and local police investigated the threat and swept the building,” he wrote.

The FBI is also investigating.

As of 8:20 p.m., employees were back in the building and continuing all operations, Cruz wrote.

During the evacuation, mail-in ballots were still being accepted at the road outside of the building. The evacuation did not affect voters returning their ballots, Centre County Commissioner Mark Higgins said, but per court order from Centre County Judge Julia Rater, the county accepted mail-in ballots at the Willowbank Building until 9 p.m.

In a statement, County Administrator John Franek, Jr. said that the “Elections Office and ballots were under constant supervision while the building was swept.”

Higgins said the temporary evacuation is not expected to delay Centre County’s election results.

Clearfield County Commissioner Chairman Dave Glass confirmed the county also received a bomb threat by email, Gant News reported. Voters could return mail-in ballots until 9 p.m. there as well.

The polls in Pennsylvania closed at 8 p.m.

This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 8:09 PM.