A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to adopt “extraordinary measures” at some processing locations to ensure the timely delivery of millions of ballots before Tuesday’s presidential election.U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he was ordering the measures in places where election mail processing scores for completed ballots returned by voters were below 90% for at least two days from October 26-28. The measures are outlined in the Postal Service’s ‘ Oct. 20 “Extraordinary Measures Memorandum.”
The list includes Alabama, Alaska, Atlanta, central Pennsylvania, Colorado, Wyoming, Detroit, Fort Worth, Texas; Indiana; South Carolina; Louisiana; the Mid-Carolinas, Mississippi; northern New England and Oklahoma, among others.
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sought a hearing in a separate Postal Service case after data showed “consistently poor Election Mail performance data in certain regions.” The Postal Service said it delivered 122 million blank and completed ballots ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election, in which there has been record early voting.
Postal Service spokesman Dave Partenheimer declined to comment, but the service issued a memo on Friday outlining numerous extra measures it is taking to deliver ballots, including arranging for after-hours handoffs with boards of elections. Starting Friday, employees can use the Express Mail network to get completed ballots returned by voters entered close to or on Election Day to their intended destination.