A suspicious package containing unbleached flour was received at the California Secretary of State's office in Sacramento, in what appears to be the latest in a series of suspicious packages sent to election officials across the country, officials said Thursday afternoon.
In all, suspicious packages have been sent to election officials in at least 15 other states, according to authorities. The source of the Sacramento package is unknown.
“Field testing and presumptive chemical testing conducted by state authorities revealed that the material contained in the package was not 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 election 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.
There have been no reports of injuries caused by the packages or the harmful material they contained. However, “an unknown substance” was found in some packages, FBI spokeswoman Kristen Setera said in a statement.
A package delivered to an election office in Oklahoma was also found to contain flour, state officials said.
This is the second time in recent months that election offices in several states have been targeted by suspicious mail.
In November, letters were sent to election offices in five states, and several were found to contain fentanyl, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service reported.
This latest wave of suspicious deliveries comes as early voting for the November election begins in several states. Former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has continued to insist, without evidence, that he lost the last election due to voter fraud, putting the country's voting process and election officials under additional scrutiny.
On Tuesday, the National Association of Secretaries of State, or NASS, issued a statement condemning the suspicious emails, as well as recent assassination attempts against Trump.
“Our democracy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind,” NASS said.
Weber said his office will continue to work with state and federal authorities to monitor any threats to California election workers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
