WASHINGTON — A federal judge ordered the United States Postal Service on Thursday to do two inspections every day for possible missing ballots at processing centers in states with extended deadlines for receiving mail ballots until the deadlines pass.
The latest order came after a tense few days between USPS and District Judge Emmet Sullivan.
In United States District Court on Wednesday, Judge Sullivan expressed frustration with Postal Service leaders for not meeting a deadline he imposed for inspections on Election Day.
By Tuesday afternoon, USPS was ordered to send postal inspectors to search the inside and outside of over two dozen processing centers to try and find any missing ballots that could then be expedited for delivery.
Some of the processing centers were in battleground states like Florida, Georgia, and Arizona. Court records showed that just 13 ballots in total, all in Pennsylvania, were found during the sweeps. The ballots were then expedited to local election offices.
Sullivan's initial order came after postal data showed around 300,000 ballots in several states were not scanned confirming their delivery.
However, in court, USPS disputed the number and highlighted its focus on expediting the mailing of ballots.
The agency added that it could not meet the deadline due to concerns that the inspections would disrupt operations on Election Day.
On Thursday, American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein agreed with the USPS and said a special priority was put on any mail ballot received at a mailing center.
"The last scan was not done because we pulled the mail out on a priority basis and sent it right to the board of election," he said. "What happened to the ballots is that they were delivered with extra priority. It doesn’t mean that they weren’t delivered. In fact, it probably means that they were delivered even quicker with extra priority.”
Following the judge's order for twice-daily inspections of processing centers until extended mail ballot receiving deadlines pass, Dimondstein believed the effort would not lead to a significant number of ballots being found.
"We appreciate that the courts weighed in on the side of the people and wanted this process to work. Overall, I don’t think they’re going to find much," the union president said. "Somebody’s ballot in election time is very important and gets to where it’s going. It’s very important that that person's vote counts.”
As of Thursday night, mail ballots were still being received at election offices in states like Virginia.
