Postal Service ignores federal judge's order to expedite final ballot sweeps in 15 states


The U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday evening that it was not complying with a federal judge's order to sweep mail processing facilities to ensure there is enough time to get any misplaced ballots to election officials before polls closed, The Washington Post reports. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the District of Columbia had issued the order after the Postal Service revealed that more than 300,000 ballots across the nation had entered postal processing plants but subsequently failed to receive "exit scans," indicating they might have been misplaced within the mail system.
The judge's order affected postal districts that spanned 15 states, including parts of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, Wyoming, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, South Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Arizona, and New Mexico.
The Postal Service had been given until 3:30 p.m. to give the "all clear" for misplaced ballots, with the Justice Department's attorneys arguing that "specifically, on Election Night, [the daily review process] is scheduled to occur from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m." but that "given the time constraints set by this Court's order, and the fact that Postal Inspectors operate on a nationwide basis, Defendants were unable to accelerate the daily review process to run from 12:30pm to 3:00pm without significantly disrupting preexisting activities on the day of the Election, something which Defendants did not understand the Court to invite or require."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This is super frustrating," NAACP attorney Allison Zieve told the Post. "If they get all the sweeps done today in time, it doesn't matter if they flouted the judge's order. They say here they will get the sweeps done between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., but 8 p.m. is too late, and in some states, 5 p.m. is too late." Read more about the order, and how USPS processing has actually gotten slower closer to the election, at The Washington Post.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot