Phoned-in bomb threats forced the evacuation of an Election Day polling place in Toledo, Ohio, on Tuesday morning, November 3, briefly interrupting voting in the 2026 United States midterm elections while police and bomb-squad officers searched the building. Toledo Police responded to Beverly Elementary School, which is serving as a polling location, at about 10:27 a.m. Eastern after a bomb threat was called in, WTOL 11 reported. Voters and poll workers were sent outside, officers swept the school and found nothing, and police cleared the building at about 12:15 p.m., when voting resumed inside.

Source: WTOL 11, Toledo (Nov. 3, 2026)

What happened at Beverly Elementary, minute by minute

Toledo Public Schools students had no classes on Tuesday, but Beverly Elementary was open as a voting site. After the threat was called in at about 10:27 a.m., voters and poll workers were moved outside while officers searched. Toledo Police spokesman Sgt. Mohamad Nasser said the Northwest Ohio Bomb Squad was notified and bomb-detection K-9 dogs were requested to search the sites, according to WTOL. An election-protection poll monitor told WTOL that roughly 40 people waited outside during the sweep, and that monitors collected the names and phone numbers of people who were turned away. Lucas County Board of Elections Director LaVera Scott initially said extra voting machines were being brought in so people could vote outside, 13abc reported; in the end the building was cleared and voting moved back indoors at about 12:15 p.m.

Source: WTOL 11; 13abc (WTVG), Toledo

A second Toledo school, and two more districts in Wood County

A second threat was reported at about 10:39 a.m. at Monac Elementary School in Toledo, where Washington Local Schools staff were in the building for a workday. The district said Monac was evacuated after a phone call suggesting a bomb threat, police swept the building and found nothing. Police have not said whether the threats are connected, and no arrest had been announced by early Tuesday afternoon.

Source: WTOL 11, Toledo (Nov. 3, 2026)

The calls did not stop at the Toledo city line. In Wood County, Bowling Green City Schools said Conneaut Elementary and Kenwood Elementary received threatening phone calls on Tuesday morning; students and staff at both schools were evacuated as a precaution while the Bowling Green Police Division swept the buildings, police gave the all-clear and classes resumed as normal. The district said: 'Authorities believe the calls were part of a swatting incident — a false report intended to trigger an emergency response,' adding that the threats were still taken seriously and that other Ohio districts have recently received similar calls. Lake Local Schools in Millbury also received a bomb threat at about 10:30 a.m.; students were evacuated while staff worked with Lake Township Police to search each building, authorities determined there was no threat, and students returned to class. None of the Bowling Green or Lake Local buildings are polling sites, WTOL reported, and no injuries were reported at any of the schools.

Source: Sentinel-Tribune, Bowling Green (Nov. 3, 2026)

Background: schools as polling places, and the 2024 hoax threats

Elementary schools are among the most common polling locations in Ohio, which is why a threat against a school on Election Day immediately becomes an election disruption as well as a police call. Tuesday's Toledo interruption was handled in the open and ended within about two hours, with no device found and no injuries. Election officials also carry the memory of the 2024 general election, when a series of hoax bomb threats targeted polling places in several states and federal officials attributed that campaign to Russian actors. No attribution of any kind has been made for Tuesday's northwest Ohio calls, and officials have not said whether they were credible threats or hoaxes; the Bowling Green district's swatting assessment is, so far, the only official characterisation of any of them.

Source: WTOL 11; Sentinel-Tribune; Election Day incident reporting, Nov. 3, 2026

What happens next

Voting at Beverly Elementary resumed inside the school at about 12:15 p.m. and continues until Ohio polls close at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Toledo Police are investigating the calls; as of early Tuesday afternoon officials had not said whether anything was found at any of the schools beyond the completed sweeps, whether the calls are connected, or whether any suspect has been identified. Voters assigned to Beverly Elementary who left during the evacuation can return and vote before 7:30 p.m., and any voter unsure of their polling place can check with the Lucas County Board of Elections. This is a developing story and will be updated as police release more information.

Source: Lucas County Board of Elections