ATLANTA — Fulton County’s election office was targeted with fentanyl-laced mail, according to officials.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, on Nov. 9, said four laced envelopes were received at election offices in Washington state and one was presumably headed to Fulton County.
The Fulton County mail has been intercepted by the United States Postal Service as postmarks helped identify the letter as being sent with the batch of mail sent to Washington, which had tested positive for fentanyl.
“We’re working with our state and federal partners to determine if any additional Georgia officials are being targeted,” Raffensperger said. “Domestic terrorists will not trample on our right to free and fair elections. Election officials should be free from fear and intimidation, which is why I’ve called on the General Assembly to increase penalties for election interference.”
Raffensperger said the Fulton County mail has not been opened and tested.
“We don’t know what’s in it, but we have to assume the worst and be prepared for that,” he said.
Fulton County elections staff has received Narcan kits, which are used to reverse opioid overdoses. The staff has also received training on how to use the kits.
All 159 Georgia counties were alerted of the anticipated Fulton County delivery.
“We wanted to make sure that everyone had that awareness and had their antennas out for anything that looked a little different than normal,” Raffensperger said.
Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Rob Pitts lauded the great work of elections workers from the Nov. 7 municipal and county elections, but said the poison-laced mail is part of an extreme effort to disrupt and interrupt fair and transparent elections.
“The fact that this has happened in this election lets us know that there are still people out there who want to do harm to our workers and disrupt, interrupt the flow of democracy and free, open transparent elections.”
Pitts said the poisoned mail targeting the Fulton County elections office is an indication that Fulton County could again be in the national spotlight during the 2024 elections, which will included races for president and other key races.
“It’s my personal belief that this is what we should prepare for in 2024,” Pitt said. “This was a good trial run for us, even this situation today.”
Law enforcement agencies are investigating the source of the laced-mail.
Atlanta-based Fulton County is Georgia’s largest county and has the largest democrat voting slate in the state. After the November 2020 presidential election, Fulton County bore the brunt of election fraud accusations following former President Donald Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden.