INDIANAPOLIS — A swarm of security agencies responded when the Indiana Secretary of State's office received a "powdery substance" through the mail on Sept. 17.
Indiana is one of more than a dozen states where election officials have received suspicious packages.
In a statement, the secretary of state's office said "after field testing by local, state, and federal authorities the contents in the envelope were preliminarily determined to be non-hazardous."
Federal officials have warned the Indiana Secretary of State's office to "be on alert for suspicious, potentially dangerous election mail."
Sec. Diego Morales said, "We take every precaution to ensure the safety of our employees and the public. I want to especially thank members of my team; our law enforcement partners and other first responders for their swift and professional response. We are relieved that everyone is safe.”
The Secretary of State's office has issued doses of Narcan to county clerk's offices in case of contact with dangerous substances.
Nationwide problem
The FBI and U.S. Postal Service on Sept. 17 were investigating suspicious packages that have been sent to or received by elections officials in at least eight states, but there were no immediate reports that any of the packages contained hazardous material.
The latest packages were sent to elections officials in Massachusetts and Missouri, authorities said. The Missouri Secretary of State’s Elections Division received a suspicious package “from an unknown source,” spokesperson JoDonn Chaney said. He said mailroom workers contained the package and no injuries were reported.
It marked the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple state offices. The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states less than two months ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices around the nation, causing disruption in what is already a tense voting season.
Local election directors are beefing up their security to keep their workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures won’t be tampered with.
Powder-containing packages were sent to secretaries of state and state election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma on Sept. 16. The packages forced evacuations in Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Hazmat crews in several states quickly determined the material was harmless. The FBI and postal service were investigating.
Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections.
One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting.
The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone.
Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase the security of their buildings and boost protections for workers amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged.
