California secretary of state among officials in 16 states receiving suspicious packages
A suspicious package containing unbleached flour was received at the California secretary of state’s headquarters in Sacramento, in what appears to be the latest in a series of suspicious packages sent to election officials across the country, officials reported Thursday afternoon.
In total, suspicious packages have been sent to election officials in at least 15 other states, officials said. The source of the Sacramento package is unknown.
“Field testing and presumptive chemical test by state law enforcement revealed that the material contained within the package was non-hazardous and tested positive for unbleached flour,” Secretary of State Shirley Weber said in a statement, adding that federal authorities will continue to investigate the incident.
Weber said local elections offices are being advised to take extra precautions before handling mail that arrives at their facilities.
On Tuesday, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service launched an investigation into suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than a dozen states, including Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, Mississippi and Connecticut.
California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce seized the packages during a sting operation targeting 11 downtown Los Angeles businesses, according to state officials.
So far, there have been no reports of injuries caused by the packages or harmful material contained in them. However, “an unknown substance” was found in some packages, FBI spokesperson Kristen Setera said in a statement.
A package delivered to an election office in Oklahoma was also found to contain flour, state officials reported.
This is the second time in recent months that election offices in multiple states have been targeted with suspicious mail.
In November, letters were sent to election offices in five states, several of which were found to include fentanyl, the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service reported.
This latest wave of suspicious deliveries comes as early voting kicks off for the November election in several states. Former President Trump, the GOP nominee for president, has continued to insist, without proof, that he lost the last election due to voter fraud, putting extra scrutiny on the nation’s balloting process and on election officials.
The presidential race between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Trump is at the top of the ticket, but Californians will vote on a number of other races.
On Tuesday, the National Assn. of Secretaries of State, or NASS, issued a statement condemning the the suspicious mailings as well as the recent assassination attempts against Trump.
“Our democracy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind,” the NASS stated.
Weber said her office will continue to work with state and federal law enforcement to monitor any threats to California election workers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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