An election worker in Pierce County, Washington holds up a letter that contained suspicious white powder (screengrab of letter courtesy Pierce County Auditor’s Office via KIRO). Inset: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson).
Authorities are investigating drug-laced letters sent to election workers across the country in a series of incidents that has thwarted ballot-counting procedures in numerous states. The FBI issued a bulletin Friday that said preliminary tests indicated the presence of fentanyl on suspicious letters sent to elections offices.
The letters, four of which contained fentanyl, were sent to elections offices in Georgia, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. No reports of negative health effects have been reported from individuals coming into contact with the substance-laced letters. The FBI is now investigating.
In at least one case reported in Washington state, a test of white powder on a letter received revealed the substance to be baking soda. However, Washington authorities reported the evacuation of four county election offices, which delayed vote counting. The Pierce County Auditor’s Office in Tacoma released images of the letter it received. The letter was postmarked in Portland, Oregon and read, “End elections now. Stop giving power to the right that they don’t have. We are in charge now and there is no more need for them.”
Similarly, authorities in Lane County, Oregon, where the University of Oregon is located, were investigating a piece of mail that arrived at the local elections office Wednesday. The U.S. Postal Service also reported that it intercepted two suspicious envelopes addressed to facilities in Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger likewise said that Fulton County election officials also received letters containing fentanyl.
“This is domestic terrorism, and it needs to be condemned by anyone that holds elected office and anyone that wants to hold elective office anywhere in America,” Raffensperger said.
“Some people like to call fentanyl a drug, but it’s actually poison. It’ll kill you. It’ll kill you very quickly, very easily. It’s very dangerous,” Raffensperger also said. Raffensperger’s son Brenton died of a fentanyl overdose in 2018 at the age of 38.
Raffensperger said that in his state, election officials were being equipped with Narcan and were receiving training on its use for safety purposes. Fulton County has been a particular spot of interest with regard to voting since 2020. During the 2020 presidential election, Raffensperger refused former president Donald Trump’s demand to “find” enough votes to prevail over President Joe Biden.
At a news conference in Georgia, Thursday, Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts remarked that there are “some crazy people out there who will go to any extreme to disrupt” elections.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton said the Biden administration was aware of the investigation and expressed gratitude for election workers.
Fentanyl is the deadly narcotic central to the nation’s ongoing opioid crisis. Brief touching of fentanyl, however, cannot cause an overdose, and research has shown the risk of serious consequences from accidental exposure to be low.
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