On Monday, suspicious items were addressed to election officials in at least six states, but no one reported that any of the packages contained hazardous materials.
Powder-containing parcels were addressed to state secretaries and election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, according to state officials. The FBI and the US Postal Service were conducting an investigation. It was the second time in the last year that suspicious packages were delivered to election authorities in different states.
The latest fear comes as early voting begins in numerous states less than two months before the high-stakes presidential, Senate, and congressional elections, as well as crucial statehouse positions around the country, disrupting an already tense voting season.
Several states reported finding a white powder material in envelopes addressed to election officials. In most cases, the substance was discovered to be innocuous. Oklahoma officials stated that the substance sent to the election office contained flour. Wyoming officials have not yet confirmed if the material shipped there was harmful.
The parcels caused an evacuation in Iowa. Hazmat teams in multiple states soon confirmed that the material was safe.
“We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement following the evacuation of Des Moines’ six-story Lucas State Office Building. “We immediately reported the incident per our protocols.”
A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was also evacuated owing to suspicious mail delivered to the secretary of state and attorney general. April M. McCollum, spokesperson for the Kansas Highway Patrol, issued a statement.
Topeka Fire Department firefighters discovered numerous pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, but a field test revealed no dangerous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols stated. Several staff at both workplaces had been exposed to it and had their health checked, she stated.
In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery material, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr told The Associated Press via email. The envelope was secured by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which is responsible for Capitol security. According to Mohr, the product tested positive for flour.
State employees in an office building near the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home for the day pending the testing of a white substance addressed to the secretary of state’s office.
strange letters were delivered to election offices and government facilities in at least six states last November, including the Kansas location that received strange mail on Monday. While some of the envelopes contained fentanyl, even non-toxic suspicious mail caused delays in ballot counting in several municipal elections.
One of the targeted offices was located in Fulton County, Georgia, which is the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the country’s most significant swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated while election workers processed ballots, which delayed vote counting.
The messages prompted election officials across the country to stockpile the overdose reversal medicine naloxone.
Election offices across the United States have taken steps to improve building security and worker protections in the wake of widespread harassment and threats following the 2020 election and false claims that it was rigged.