It’s back to court in the #USPS suit today. @NAACP_LDF’s @SamSpital & @Public_Citizen at the helm. But first, let me share some of what we’re learning abt the meaning of the data sets we’ve received (including whether there are “300,000 lost ballots”). https://twitter.com/naacp_ldf/status/1324174575815544832

The 300,000 reflects ballots that had origin scans but not destination scans. Doesn’t mean they weren’t delivered. B/c of the judicial orders requiring the USPS move faster, we learned that the destination scan process was omitted in order to speed up delivery for some mail.

On the troubling ballot processing score in places like Philly (70%). It’s doesn’t actually mean that 30% of mail was not delivered. It DOES mean that only 70% was timely - delivered (w/i the svc standard -2 days for local mail usually). So 30% was delayed. Which is a problem.

Those percentages helped us identify target jurisds. The “extraordinary measures” ordered by the court was designed to find ballots mailed close to Election Day & ballots lost in the system. Our effort has been to get them delivered before ballot deadlines in the relevant states.

Texas’ deadline, for example, was yesterday. So it was impt for Judge Sullivan to order a sweep there yesterday. It turned up 800 ballots. Today we’re focused on NC (deadline tmrw) & other jurisds that can still receive ballots postmarked by Election Day according to state law.

W/regard to the failure of #USPS to fully comply w/Judge Sullivan’s order earlier this week - it is not over or forgotten. We have prioritized getting ballots delivered, but it is a serious matter. And Judge Sullivan, as you may have seen, is not amused. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/us/politics/usps-ballots.html

We are fighting for the delivery of every ballot. Ppl who voted absentee (to protect against COVID exposure in particular),deserve to know their ballot was delivered. It is a public trust that must not be betrayed.

Lastly, the rank and file postal workers and union have been terrific throughout this process. No matter what the failures of leadership, they have taken the judge’s orders and this litigation seriously. They are not responsible for ordering the changes that created these delays.

Like poll workers and vote counters, our mail deliverers should be credited with trying to do their jobs despite the failures of leadership in this country. That’s all for now. We’ll keep fighting!