Suspicious Packages Containing White Powder Sent to Election Officials in 15 States

Election officials in over 15 U.S. states received suspicious packages and letters that contained white powder.

The United States Postal Service, along with the FBI, are investigating several packages and letters sent to election officials in at least 15 states containing an unknown white powder.

The office of Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas shared that CISA alerted her office a day earlier “about envelopes containing an unidentified white powder that were sent to and received by elections offices across the country.”

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office reported that it was one of the 15 offices that received the white substance.

Frank LaRose’s office shared, “Fortunately, we were notified by our law enforcement partners to be on the lookout for this package, and we were able to intercept it before it reached our office.”

There has been no reported harm to any officials or staffers to where the packages were sent.

Per WLWT:

Ohio’s Secretary of State office says it is one of at least 15 election offices across the country that have received a suspicious package.

Frank LaRose’s office says the package is believed to contain “a powdery substance” that investigators in other states have found to be non-hazardous. Officials say the Secretary of State’s Public Integrity Division is coordinating with law enforcement on the matter, including at the FBI and with the U.S. Postal Service.

“Fortunately, we were notified by our law enforcement partners to be on the lookout for this package, and we were able to intercept it before it reached our office,” said Secretary LaRose in a press release. “The security of our employees and all election officials across Ohio is a top concern as we enter a critical period in the election cycle.

“We’ve now seen two assassination attempts directed at a presidential candidate, and the FBI is actively investigating several threats here in Ohio. We need to lower the temperature of our political discourse and send a clear, bipartisan message that we resolve our elections in this country with ballots not bullets.”

The Associated Press reported that the packages were sent to election officials in Connecticut, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Wyoming, Alaska, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, and Rhode Island.

The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Elections Division Office reported flour was the white substance sent to their office.

Other offices have sent the substances to labs to identify the substance.

 

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