Florida Elections Office Searched After Suspicious Package Reported

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A suspicious package was reported Monday in the building that houses Florida's Division of Elections, and employees were kept out while the building was searched.

Many employees of the division are housed in other buildings and the evacuation wouldn't affect Tuesday's election, said Alia Faraj, a spokeswoman for the Department of State, which oversees the elections agency in the state that was ground zero for the disputed 2000 race.

Firefighters and police were called to the building at about 6:30 a.m. when a security guard in the building reported the package, said police spokesman John Newland.

A police hazardous device team was still in the building at midmorning and there was no word on whether anything had been found, he said.

Newland said there weren't many employees in the building at the time of the call and people arriving for work were not admitted. They remained out of the building while investigators were inside.