Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry. A mysterious white powder was found in an envelope opened by an elections division employee at the Secretary of State's office on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Wesley Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)
Federal officials are investigating letters containing an unidentified white powder that were mailed to elections offices and capitol buildings in multiple states this week, including Louisiana.
Officials in Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma also reported receiving the letters, prompting building evacuations and an FBI investigation just three weeks ahead of the congressional midterm elections.
Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry reported Tuesday that one of the letters was received at the agency’s elections office. The state employee who opened the letter was taken to an emergency room as a precaution, and the building was evacuated for the remainder of the day.
Testing later showed the powder was harmless, though state officials have not yet said what the substance was.
An Oklahoma state elections employee opened a letter Tuesday afternoon containing an unidentified white powder, prompting a building evacuation.
A comparable mailing addressed to Ohio’s elections office was intercepted Wednesday by the U.S. Postal Service before it was delivered.
Another white powder-filled letter was sent to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office on Thursday. Officials said the substance was not harmful based on preliminary tests.
The FBI hasn’t yet announced if the letters sent to each of the states are connected.
The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors released a joint statement on Wednesday in response to the letters. The groups said they are “deeply concerned by these incidents.”
“Threats against election officials and workers have no place in our democracy. Those who administer our elections should never fear for their safety while carrying out their essential duties,” the organizations said in the joint statement.
