Suspicious packages were sent to election officials in at least five states on Monday, but there were no reports that any of the packages contained hazardous material.
Powder-containing packages were sent to secretaries of state and state election offices in Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming and Oklahoma, officials in those states confirmed. The FBI and U.S. Postal Service were investigating. 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 for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices around the nation, causing disruption in what is already a tense voting season.
Several of the states reported a white powder substance found in envelopes sent to election officials. In most cases, the material was found to be harmless. Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour. Wyoming officials have not yet said if the material sent there was hazardous.
The packages forced an evacuation in Iowa. Hazmat crews in several states quickly determined the material was harmless.
鈥淲e have specific protocols in place for situations such as this,鈥� Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines. 鈥淲e immediately reported the incident per our protocols."
A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, that is home to both the secretary of state鈥檚 office and the attorney general鈥檚 office was also evacuated due to suspicious mail. Authorities haven鈥檛 confirmed the mail was addressed to either of those offices.
In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said in an email to The Associated Press. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which oversees security for the Capitol, secured the envelope. Testing determined the substance was flour, Mohr said.
in at least five states in early November. 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鈥檚 most important swing states. had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting.
have taken steps to increase the security of their buildings and boost protections for workers amid and following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged.
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Salter reported from O'Fallon, Missouri. Volmert reported from Lansing, Michigan. Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Johnathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.
Jim Salter And Isabella Volmert, The Associated Press
