Thurston added to list of election offices in 5 states that received suspicious envelopes
The Thurston County Auditor’s Office has become the sixth Washington location to receive a suspicious envelope containing a white powder. Five other county elections offices in Washington were evacuated last week for the same issue.
According to a Monday news release from the Thurston County Auditor’s Office, the envelope matched the description of those sent to other county election offices. Auditor Mary Hall said the U.S. Postal Service provided the office with advanced notice of the envelope’s arrival, and it was never opened by elections staff.
Hall said the office isolated its mail last Wednesday, the day after the Nov. 7 general election, opening it in an isolated room with gloves and masks on. But they couldn’t find the envelope. It wasn’t found until Monday morning. Hall said she had the interim county manager Robin Campbell come into the mailroom at around 8 a.m., which is when they found the envelope.
Hall put the envelope in a Ziploc baggie, and she said she could see white powder in the corner coming out of the envelope.
The envelope did not include a ballot.
Ballot processing and election results were not affected by the incident, according to the news release. Staff turned the envelope over to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, which could not be reached for more information Monday morning.
As of Monday, suspicious letters have been reported at election offices in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Georgia. Fentanyl was found in four of the letters, according to a statement from the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
