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NEWS: In court-ordered sweeps of USPS processing plants in Texas, postal workers found 815 ballots that have now been delivered to election officials, according to a federal court filing.
Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.221504/gov.uscourts.dcd.221504.85.0.pdf
Want to note a couple things:
1/ This is the first data we've gotten about ballot sweeps and what USPS has found when it's done them. USPS says it has done these sweeps for election mail since **January,** but we have no idea what USPS has found.
1/ This is the first data we've gotten about ballot sweeps and what USPS has found when it's done them. USPS says it has done these sweeps for election mail since **January,** but we have no idea what USPS has found.
2/ These sweeps in Texas were done because @votefwd lawyers asked the judge to mandate them. And a big reason for that is because when the judge ordered USPS to expedite its ballot sweeps on Tuesday, it **defied the order** and did them later in the day as originally scheduled.
The judge today accused USPS of trying to run out the clock on the order so as not to have to conduct the sweeps. https://twitter.com/jacobbogage/status/1324035864754823168
Nearly 7 percent of ballots in USPS sorting facilities on 11/3 were not processed on time for submission to election officials.
We've done the math on that number: about 8,000 ballots.
Some of those ballots are not from states with strict ballot deadlines, so they will count.
We've done the math on that number: about 8,000 ballots.
Some of those ballots are not from states with strict ballot deadlines, so they will count.
But many will not; 28 states require ballots to reach vote counters by Election Day for the ballots to count. Some of those states:
- Arizona
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
Here's a great chart from Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/vote-by-mail-state-deadlines
- Arizona
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
Here's a great chart from Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/addybaird/vote-by-mail-state-deadlines
In other words, our absentee ballot system only works if the U.S. Postal Service also works.
And -- you should read my story about it -- it's not working as well as anyone would like. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/03/election-ballot-delays-usps/
And -- you should read my story about it -- it's not working as well as anyone would like. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/03/election-ballot-delays-usps/
We (I mean, @_cingraham) has done the math. None of this is likely to mean anything for election outcomes. The number of found and late ballots just isn't great enough.
(Story tk on that momentarily.)
But there's other ways to measure the impact of these problems on the vote.
(Story tk on that momentarily.)
But there's other ways to measure the impact of these problems on the vote.
And learning about those problems -- why they happened; why they weren't fixed; what they mean for the future of elections; what they mean for the post office, one of the country's most cherished institutions -- is my job for the next however long.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
Finally, here's that story I mentioned: https://twitter.com/jacobbogage/status/1324138809559289858
