by
Northern News Services

NNSL (June 04 /97) - Police took two Sir John Franklin high school students into custody after a bomb threat held up classes and voting at a polling station at the school early Monday afternoon.

As students milled around the schoolyard waiting for the OK to return, voters arrived at the gym to find the doors locked.

Election officials kept track of how many voters came and went during the shutdown, but Pat McMahon, returning officer for the Western Arctic, would not release the tally.

The polling station was shut down for 90 minutes as a result of the scare, said McMahon. During that time ballot boxes were moved from the school gym, where the station was set up, to nearby Akaitcho Hall.

Police say the bomb threat wasn't directed at the polling station, but at the school itself. The suspects, girls aged 15 and 16, are scheduled to appear in court at a later date.