A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the United States Postal Service (USPS) must sweep postal facilities in various locations throughout a number of different states for mail-in ballots, in order to ensure that the ballots are delivered to election officials by the time polls close.
UPDATE: A federal judge ordered the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday to sweep its facilities in Philadelphia, central Pennsylvania and 10 other locales for mail-in ballots to ensure they are delivered to election officials by the end of the day.
— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) November 3, 2020
Details: https://t.co/o9alqSdngK pic.twitter.com/mV3j9XqCY7
Federal judge orders USPS to conduct sweeps in Central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Detroit, Colorado, Wyoming, Atlanta, Houston, Alabama, Northern New England, Greater South Carolina, South Florida, Lakeland, and Arizona for ballots held up for delivery.
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) November 3, 2020
From The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“The order, from U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, gave postal service officials until 4:30 p.m. to certify that those sweeps had been completed and there were no ballots awaiting delivery. His order came amid ongoing litigation over concerns that recent delays in postal service operations could result in tens of thousands of ballots across the country being received after Election Day...That could present a particular problem in Pennsylvania where the issue of whether mail-in votes postmarked by Nov. 3 but received afterward has been a hotly contested issue. In addition to Philadelphia and central Pennsylvania, Sullivan ordered the Postal Service to conduct similar sweeps for ballots in Detroit, Colorado, Wyoming, Atlanta, Houston, Northern New England, South Carolina, South Florida and Arizona.”
Pennsylvania and national Republicans have argued that mail-in ballots received after election day could open the door to fraud. The Supreme Court could revisit the highly-contested case after the general election.