A suspicious white powder found amid a stack of absentee ballots temporarily closed a Boston polling place yesterday, officials say.
As thousands of voters flocked to 735 Shawmut Ave. to cast their ballots, Stephanie Thomas, a clerk, saw the white substance amid the ballots.
“As we were going through absentee ballots, I observed a lot of white substances,” Thomas told the Herald. “I told the warden to call the election department. The hazmat team came, the fire and police department. They cleared the place.”
Officials shut down the polling place temporarily at about 5 p.m. and reopened it by 5:30 p.m.
“I was very surprised,” Thomas said. “I tried to keep a low profile. I didn’t want to worry voters.”