CANYON CITY — Grant County Clerk Laurie Cates opened her email on Tuesday, Nov. 12, and saw the same thing county clerks throughout Northeastern Oregon had seen four days earlier — a bomb threat.

The threat was sent in a mass email to most of the county clerk’s offices in the state late in the afternoon on Friday, Nov. 8, three days after Election Day.

Cates said the email came in at 4:54 p.m. on Nov. 8 but the office had closed at noon that day. The Veterans Day holiday meant that Cates didn’t see the email until Tuesday, after which she informed Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley and the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office — which oversees elections — of the threat.

McKinley told the Blue Mountain Eagle that a search of the Grant County Courthouse, where the county clerk’s office is located, turned up nothing suspicious. The sheriff added that the FBI’s Portland office was looking at the source of the email.

Under Oregon law, a bomb threat targeting a public building constitutes first-degree disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

The Baker, Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa County clerk’s offices all reported receiving similar emails. An official from the Umatilla County Clerk’s Office said the police were called and a check of the area revealed no threat to the office.

Officials asked about the language contained in the emails said they could not disclose that information due to the ongoing investigation into the incidents.

Laura Kerns, the communications director for the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, said most counties in Oregon received bomb threats via email on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 8, and that those threats were referred to law enforcement.

When asked if the threats were connected to the recent general election, Kerns said any thoughts about a motive are entirely speculative at this point.

“As there is an ongoing investigation at this time, I can’t comment further,” she said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Portland public affairs office said it was aware of the threats.

“The FBI is aware of bomb threats emailed to election offices in Oregon,” officials said. “None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far. Election integrity is among the FBI’s highest priorities. We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to respond to any threats to election officials and to protect our communities.”

Tips about suspicious activity can be reported to local law enforcement or submitted to the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or online at tips.fbi.gov.

Bomb threats against polling places were reported in several states on Election Day, and a ballot box in Portland and two others in Vancouver, Washington, were targeted with incendiary devices in the days leading up to the election.