5 min read
Major Takeaways
- The FBI is investigating letters containing a suspicious powder that were mailed to election offices and congressional offices across the country.
- Mississippi was among the states targeted. The letter meant for the Mississippi Secretary of State was stopped before it arrived and turned over to the FBI.
- Election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma were evacuated. No injuries have been reported and the substance remains unidentified.
- The threats arrive three weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, raising fresh fears about voter intimidation.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is now leading a national investigation into letters laced with a suspicious powder that were mailed to election offices and congressional offices across the United States.
The probe became public on Thursday after a notice from the Senate Sergeant at Arms warned Senate offices about the mailings. The FBI, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Capitol Police are all involved in the investigation.
Federal officials are urging anyone who receives one of the letters to treat it as potentially hazardous.
Election offices in Louisiana and Oklahoma were evacuated this week after packages containing a powdery substance arrived. In Ohio, the Postal Service stopped a package filled with white powder that was addressed to the secretary of state. Officials there said similar mailings went out to election offices in several other states.
Maryland, Mississippi and South Dakota also confirmed on Thursday that their election offices were targeted. In each case the letters were stopped before they reached their destination.
In Mississippi, the office of the secretary of state was warned in advance to expect a suspicious letter. Federal agents with the Postal Service and Homeland Security Investigations pulled the letter out of the mail stream before it arrived. It has since been handed over to the FBI.
A spokesperson for United States Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut confirmed that one of the letters arrived at his office in Hartford.
Some of the letters carried the letters DSA and a return address linked to the Democratic Socialists of America, according to new reporting. Investigators have not named a suspect and have not said whether the return address is real or fake.
The FBI said in a statement that some of the letters contained an unknown substance and that agents are working with partners to respond to each incident and to find the people responsible.
The National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors issued a joint statement expressing deep concern about the threats.
A top postal inspector said Thursday that any threat or attack on an election official is unacceptable.
This is not the first time election offices have been targeted this way. In 2023, letters containing fentanyl were mailed to election offices in several states. Those incidents led to evacuations and a federal investigation that stretched across the country.
The pattern is familiar. Threats spike when elections draw near. The targets are almost always the ordinary people who make voting possible.
For Black communities, this story lands with a painful echo. Mississippi sits at the center of the American struggle for voting rights. It was in Mississippi that organizers risked their lives during Freedom Summer to register Black voters. It was in Mississippi that leaders were beaten and killed for daring to believe the ballot box belonged to everybody.
Threats aimed at election offices three weeks before a midterm election do not exist in a vacuum. They arrive in a season when Black voters are already being asked to show up, stand in long lines and trust a system that has not always protected them.
When the people who run elections are threatened, the message travels further than the envelope. It tells poll workers to be afraid. It tells voters to stay home. And in communities that fought for decades to win the right to vote, that message is heard loud and clear.
No injuries have been reported in connection with the letters so far. That is good news. But investigators still do not know what the substance is, and they still do not know who sent it.
What happens next matters. Federal officials say they are working to stop any additional letters before they arrive. But they have also warned that some letters may still reach their destinations.
Voters in Mississippi and across the country should know that election officials are taking this seriously. Offices are screening mail. Law enforcement is involved at the highest levels.
If you work in an election office or volunteer around voting, take every suspicious package seriously and call law enforcement at once. If you are a voter, the best answer to intimidation is turnout.
The right to vote was never given freely in this country. It was demanded, defended and paid for. Three weeks from now, Americans will head to the polls for the midterms. The people sending these letters want fear to do what poll taxes and literacy tests once did.
Do not let them.
