Court Battles

USPS has back-to-back days of delivery delays ahead of election

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The U.S. Postal Service reported its third consecutive day of fewer on-time ballot deliveries in swing states in new court filings Sunday.

In the Sunday filing in U.S. District Court, the agency said it moved a lower number of ballots on time Saturday than the day before, CNN reported. Overall, the Postal Service processing score fell from 93 percent to 91 percent, continuing a decline that began on Wednesday.

The nation’s worst processing score is in the district covering Colorado and Wyoming, which moved under 45 percent of ballots on time Saturday. Colorado mails every registered voter a ballot and conducts its elections predominantly through the mail.

Postal Service officials testified Saturday that inclement weather caused the delays in Wyoming and Colorado and said the agency has provided “multiple layers of operational oversight” to remedy the problems. The agency also said Friday that it will make atypical Sunday collections on some routes, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, Postal Service reported moving only 62 percent of ballots in Central Pennsylvania and 64 percent in both the district covering Atlanta and the northern New England district, which covers Maine and New Hampshire.

So-called local turnaround, a process implemented by local post offices that deliver ballots directly to local election boards, is not included in the figure.

The filing comes as Judge Emmet Sullivan, an Obama appointee, weighs whether the agency should take further steps to improve processing scores ahead of the election. Lawyers for the federal government have said they may have difficulty implementing court orders on time.

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