MILWAUKEE– At 9a.m. at the Milwaukee city Elections Commission office, workers found a suspicious package that arrived in a bubble wrap envelope, was damp, and emitted an unusual odor. The package itself was sent from an international location. Upon observing the suspicious nature of the package, emergency services were immediately called to Milwaukee City Hall where the elections commission offices are located.
Firefighters in hazmat suits entered city hall and ordered that any staff south of the fifth floor be evacuated to a different part of the building.
“There was one individual that did have contact with the package,” said Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski. “The individual was not affected from this and told first responders they did not need any medical attention. After further inspection, we can find nothing that is dangerous or hazardous at this time.”
Lipski says that the package itself was contained and it being transferred to a lab in Madison for further inspection and investigation.
Elections commission administrator, Paulia Gutierrez says that the commission had planned to do their election certification later on Friday afternoon.
“We were certifying the election today at 4:45, but based on the timing, we’re going to cancel the certification today and we will do it again on Monday at 8:30 a.m.,” said Gutierrez.
Once votes are certified by the City of Milwaukee Board of Election Commissioners, the results will be transferred to the county and continue through the process to the state.
First responders and the hazmat team have given the all-clear, and the Elections Commission will continue to accept the curing of provisional ballots until 4:00 p.m. today at City Hall, as required by state law.
Voters who cast provisional ballots due to missing photo ID can bring their ID to City Hall by 4:00 p.m. today to ensure their vote counts toward the general election.
An investigation as to who sent the suspicious package is still ongoing at this time.
