Envelope creates stir at Thomson vote site

While some places in the country received bomb threats on Election Day, Carlton County was relatively incident free — with one major exception.

“A suspicious envelope was left at a polling booth in Thomson Township,” said Carlton County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Doug Rotta, noting that the call came at 5:28 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, while voting was still underway.

The discovery did not disrupt voting at Thomson Township, Rotta said. The building was not cleared and people continued voting as usual.

“It didn’t turn out to be anything hazardous or a public safety threat,” Rotta said. “It had some writing on the outside that made it identifiable as suspicious.”

The sheriff’s office consulted with the Minnesota Duty Officer, Crow Wing County Bomb Squad, Duluth Fire Department Hazmat, and the FBI. The envelope was examined by the bomb squad and the hazmat team, and no hazards were detected. The envelope was opened, and officers said inside was what appeared to be “random photographs and a media drive.”

Because the incident is still under investigation, Rotta declined to share a photograph or the actual words on the envelope. The sheriff’s office was waiting to see if any similar incidents were reported elsewhere in the state.

So far they have no suspects. “There was a large number of people in the building at the time,” Rotta said.

Anyone with knowledge of the incident is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 218-384-3236.