ATLANTA — FBI Atlanta said it sent a team to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office in Atlanta on Thursday to look into a suspicious letter.
Specific details concerning the letter were not released. However, a spokesperson for FBI Atlanta said the situation may be linked to similar cases from last month that happened around the country.
On Sept. 17, FBI Oklahoma City issued a statement saying the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service were investigating "suspicious mailings" sent to election officials in several states.
"Some of the letters contained an unknown substance, and we are working closely with our law enforcement partners to respond to each incident and safely collect the letters," the previous statement said. "We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters."
The Associated Press reported last month the FBI was looking into suspicious packages that had been sent to or received by elections officials in more than 15 states, including Georgia. The National Association of Secretaries of State condemned the acts.
RELATED: The FBI is investigating suspicious packages sent to election officials in more than 15 states
At the time, the FBI reminded everyone to use care when handling mail, especially when letters or packages come from unrecognized senders.
Election offices across the country have taken steps to increase security amid harassment and threats following the 2020 election. In a recent interview with 11Alive, Gabriel Sterling, chief operation officer of the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, said election officials here are paying heightened attention to potential security concerns this year.
"We always worry about that. I mean, it's not just poll workers; it's election workers at Election Day offices because we always worry about having bomb threats there, too. But we've already instituted a tool, a texting tool, that every poll manager has for every county that opts in that notifies us with real information," he said.
"So, we have a texting tool that will go to the county elections director, the state elections director, and local law enforcement," he shared. "So everybody's on the same page as quickly as possible with as much context as possible."
The AP reported that safety concerns nationwide have caused election workers around the country to stock up on the overdose reversal medication naloxone. That's also being done in Georgia.
"We've gotten Narcan to every single office in Georgia after we had the . . . the fentanyl letter sent out," Sterling previously told 11Alive.
Material from the Associated Press was also used in this report.
