Police in Ankeny, Iowa, reported that a pipe bomb was found near a voting location on Tuesday, which forced voters to go to other nearby voting locations.
The Ankeny Police said that the pipe bomb was “rendered safe” by a technician and that no other devices were found at the Lakeside Center
Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald said that there is no way of knowing how long the device had been at the voting center, and it may not have been related to the election. The device was found by a “couple of alert people walking their dog” that told Fitzgerald’s staff about the device.
“Our office was in constant contact today with the Iowa Secretary of State staff during the evacuation,” Fitzgerald wrote. “Polk County Election Office staff were on the scene ensuring voters that were coming to the Lakeside Center to vote were given other voting locations that they could attend.”
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said on Wednesday that “there is no indication of an ongoing threat to Iowa polling places.”
The only item on the ballot in Ankeny was for an initiative on directing the use of school funds from the State of Iowa. A total of 1,470 ballots were cast in Tuesday’s special election at 14 precincts. It’s unclear how many voters were affected by relocating the ballot box.