Hazmat teams respond after suspicious package delivered to office of the Milwaukee Election Commission

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Hazmat teams were called to City Hall around 9 a.m. Friday morning after a suspicious package was delivered to the office of the Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC).

According to Milwaukee Election Commission Director Paulina Gutierrez, a staff member opened a bubble wrap style envelope that was postmarked internationally. Gutierrez says most mail that comes to the MEC is addressed to her.

The staff member reported the envelope had a liquid substance all over it and there was an odor. Gutierrez says she believes there was an absentee ballot application inside the envelope.

The Milwaukee Fire Department and hazmat teams were called to inspect the substance and after several tests, found the contents of the envelope were not dangerous.

Fire Chief Aaron Lipski says the staff member who came in contact with the envelope was not affected.

“We have a whole suite of testing capabilities that arrived with our hazmat team. A lot of this was developed in preparation for this election, just out of an abundance of caution,” said Lipski.

Gutierrez says the MEC is still accepting provisional ballots until 4 p.m., but because of this incident, will have to delay the certification of the election results in Milwaukee.

“We were certifying the election today at 4:45 p.m., but based on the timing, we’re gonna cancel the certification today, and we’ll do it Monday at 8 a.m. It will be noticed as soon as we can get back into the office,” said Gutierrez.

This is the second time a hazmat team has responded to a suspicious substance sent to an election office. Last Friday, postal workers intercepted an envelope with white power inside it intended for an election office. That substance was also determined to not be hazardous.

This envelope will also go to a state lab for further testing.