Delaware’s Department of Elections has temporarily moved the Election Commissioner’s office operations, after it was among several election offices nationwide to receive a package containing white powder Thursday.
The Election Commissioner’s Office will work out of the Department of Elections Kent County Office for now, but normal operations there and at all other state elections offices have resumed.
State Senator Dan Cruce chairs the Senate Elections Committee and was on an election task force call when word of the suspicious package became public. He said his first thought upon getting word of the incident was shared with many:
"'My gosh, I hope everyone's safe.' And the good news is; we were, they are."
He said the elections department's ability to continue with normal operations can be attributed to a solid and "plan-ful" initial response, "because they unfortunately have to plan for things like this."
Senators Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester were among federal lawmakers that also received envelopes with a suspicious substance.
The FBI has taken over the investigation, while the United States Postal Inspection Service is testing the envelope and its contents, according to the Elections Department.
To Cruce, the incidents highlight the need to continue work on election security and access.
"I think what that does signal to me is an additional need for our continued work for mail-in voting, no excuse absentee voting," Cruce said. "And other states have moved forward in this direction too.
All elections operations and preparations for next month's General election are proceeding as usual, including all public meetings, absentee ballot processing, logic & accuracy testing. The Elections Dept. adds that it is prepared to begin early voting statewide next week on Thursday, October 22.
