November 3, 2026 — Toledo, Ohio

Two phoned-in bomb threats emptied a Toledo polling place on Election Day morning, pausing voting at Beverly Elementary School for one hour and 15 minutes before police swept the building, found nothing, and let voters back inside.

The first call came around 10:30 a.m. ET at Beverly Elementary, on Toledo’s Southside, Toledo Public Schools spokeswoman Patty Mazur said. Moments later, the school’s assistant principal took a second call and told the principal. The district’s chief of public safety then called Toledo police, who evacuated the building and swept the inside and outside. Police walked a K-9 unit through the school and found nothing, Mazur said.

Lucas County Board of Elections Deputy Director Tim Monaco said the polling location was closed for one hour and 15 minutes — correcting earlier reports that put the closure at roughly two hours. Voters were allowed to resume voting inside Beverly shortly after noon, and police cleared the school at about 12:15 p.m. ET, according to local reporting.

Toledo Public Schools students did not have class on Election Day. Lucas County Board of Elections Director LaVera Scott initially said extra voting machines were being brought in so people could vote outside; an election-protection poll monitor told WTOL that roughly 40 people waited outside during the sweep and that monitors collected names and phone numbers of people who were turned away.

Beverly was not the only school to receive a threat Tuesday morning. The 13abc account lists five other area schools that received threats: Monac Elementary in Toledo, Conneaut Elementary and Kenwood Elementary in Bowling Green, Defiance City Schools, and Lake Local Schools in Millbury. The buildings were swept and determined to be safe, 13abc reported. Washington Local Schools staff were in the Monac building for a workday, and Lake Local received its threat at about 10:30 a.m., according to local reporting. None of the Bowling Green or Lake Local buildings are polling sites, WTOL reported.

One detail differed in early reporting, and it is worth stating plainly: the Beacon Journal and USA Today, citing Mazur, report both threats as calls to Beverly Elementary, the second coming minutes after the first. Other local reporting, as summarized from WTOL, places the second threat at about 10:39 a.m. at Monac Elementary. What is confirmed in the reporting I could read directly is that Beverly is the polling location; Monac is listed among the other schools that received threats, and was not described as a polling location in the 13abc account. Toledo police spokesman Sgt. Mohamad Nasser said the Northwest Ohio Bomb Squad was notified and bomb-detection K-9s were requested, according to WTOL. Police have not said whether the threats are connected.

No injuries were reported at any of the schools. As of early Tuesday afternoon, officials had not said whether the threats were credible or hoaxes, who made them, or whether any arrest had been made. Police are investigating.

Ohio polls are open until 7:30 p.m. ET. Voters with questions about their polling place can check with the Lucas County Board of Elections.

Muse AI assisted