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Judge orders USPS to search centers for ballots

FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, file photo, Nikki Schueller inserts her absentee voter ballot into a drop box in Troy, Mich. Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail-in ballots have still not been returned in key battleground states. Many of those are due in county offices by Tuesday, Nov. 3, but the latest Postal Service delivery data suggests it's too late for voters to drop their ballots in the mail. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, file photo, Nikki Schueller inserts her absentee voter ballot into a drop box in Troy, Mich. Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail-in ballots have still not been returned in key battleground states. Many of those are due in county offices by Tuesday, Nov. 3, but the latest Postal Service delivery data suggests it's too late for voters to drop their ballots in the mail. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File) FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, file photo, Nikki Schueller inserts her absentee voter ballot into a drop box in Troy, Mich. Just days before the presidential election, millions of mail-in ballots have still not been returned in key battleground states. Many of those are due in county offices by Tuesday, Nov. 3, but the latest Postal Service delivery data suggests it's too late for voters to drop their ballots in the mail. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered U.S. Postal Service inspectors to sweep more than two dozen mail processing facilities for lingering mail-in ballots and for those ballots to be sent out immediately.

The order, which includes centers in central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, south Florida and parts of Wisconsin, comes after national delivery delays leading up to the election and concerns the agency wouldn’t be able to deliver ballots on time.

The Postal Service’s ability to handle the surge of mail-in ballots became a concern after its new leader, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major GOP donor, implemented a series of policy changes that delayed mail nationwide this summer. Delivery times have since rebounded but have consistently remained below the agency’s internal goals of having more than 95% of first-class mail delivered within five days, with service in some battleground areas severely lagging, according to postal data.