Voters in parts of Florida reported receiving emails that appear to be from a right-wing group threatening to “come after” voters unless they cast their ballot for President Donald Trump.
Voters in Alaska and Arizona reported receiving similar messages Tuesday.
Though the message appears to come from “The Proud Boys,” a neo-fascist group mentioned in the first presidential debate, CBS News reports the emails were sent from overseas servers. That calls into question who is actually sending them.
The messages are now being investigated by state and federal authorities.
Here what’s in the email, according to CBS News:
“We are in possession of all your information (email, address, telephone… everything). “You are currently registered as a Democrat and we know this because we have gained access into the entire voting infrastructure. You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you. Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply. We will know which candidate you voted for. I would take this seriously if I were you.”
The subject line of the email was “Vote for Trump or else!”
Local authorities in Florida are working to inform voters the email is questionable in nature.
“We here at the Sheriff’s Office and the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections are aware of an email that is circulating, purported to be from the Proud Boys,” wrote the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office in Florida on a Facebook post. “The email appears to be a scam and we will be initiating an investigation into the source of the email along with assistance from our partners on the federal level.”
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office released a similar statement.
“The FCSO is aware of an email scam demanding voters to vote for a specific presidential candidate on election day. Voter intimidation is illegal,” the agency said in a tweet.
