Incredible bomb threats against polling stations in the Atlanta area came from Russia, the secretary of state said

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Several credible bomb threats that briefly disrupted voting at several polling stations in Georgia came from Russia, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters on Tuesday.

“We heard some threats that were of Russian origin. I don't know how to describe that this is viable – we don't believe it is, but in the interest of public safety we are always looking into it and will continue to be very responsible when we learn of things like this,” Raffensperger said. “We identified the source and it came from Russia.”

“They are apparently up to mischief and do not want the elections to run smoothly, fairly and correctly,” he added. “Anything that can make us fight among ourselves – they can count that as a victory.”

Raffensperger, a Republican, did not elaborate on how exactly state officials determined the bomb threats were coming from Russia.

According to Fulton County police, the unreliable threats led to the temporary closure of polling stations at the Etris Community Center and Gullatt Elementary in Union City, just outside Atlanta. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Union City's population is nearly 90% black.

Fulton County announced it is extending hours at five polling locations affected by the bomb threats.

Robb Pitts, chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, previously told CNN he did so We do not anticipate that the closure of polls due to potential delays would impact the county's ability to expeditiously announce results this evening.

Two Gwinnett County voting precincts that share the same physical space will remain open until 7:58 p.m. ET after being briefly closed on Tuesday due to a threat received, Gwinnett County spokesman Joe Sorenson told CNN.

Neighborhoods in Gwinnett County were evacuated for about an hour while the bomb threat, which was deemed unreliable, was investigated.

An FBI statement said it was aware of the threats but did not identify their source.

“Election integrity and protecting our community are our top priorities, and the FBI is working closely with state and local law enforcement partners to respond to election threats and protect our communities while Americans exercise their right to vote,” the FBI said in a statement .

The statement said the office had no information to suggest the threat was credible.

One voter, Michael Osborne, said he thought something was wrong when he arrived at his polling place in Union City on Tuesday morning and spotted emergency services and police vehicles surrounding the building. An official told him and other voters that they were not allowed to enter the site to vote because of a bomb threat.

“They had to remove all the workers, they couldn’t let anyone in until they assessed the threats,” Osborne said.

Osborne said the delay at the Etris Community Center was about an hour and voters were forced to wait outside until police officers cleared the building.

“Three voters were in the middle of voting when it happened and there were probably about 25 people in line,” said poll watcher Evette Reyes.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN's Isabel Rosales, Mounira Elsamra and Denise Royal contributed to this report.