Cleveland's hazmat team responded to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections on Wednesday, Oct. 28, after staff discovered an unidentified powder while processing a mail-in ballot.
The powder was found around 2 p.m., according to WKYC. Staff triggered emergency response protocols, evacuated a portion of the operations center and called in emergency services.
The hazmat team tested the substance and determined it was non-hazardous. The affected area was cleaned and reopened to staff and visitors. No injuries were reported.
Officials did not provide additional details about the identity of the powder, Ideastream Public Media reported.
The board is the site of early in-person voting ahead of Tuesday, Nov. 3. Despite the partial evacuation, early voting was not interrupted because the voting area and the mail processing section occupy separate parts of the facility.
"Due to the physical separation between the voting area and the mail processing section of the Board's facility, voting operations continued without disruption," the board stated, according to WKYC.
