Judge orders postal service to sweep for ballots, including in Wisconsin

By: Erik Gunn - November 3, 2020 2:22 pm

Stacks of boxes holding mail are seen at a U.S. Post Office sorting center. Photo by Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

CNN reports that a federal judge has ordered the United States Postal Service to start sweeping processing facilities by 3 p.m. Eastern Time for possibly stranded ballots and deliver them immediately.

The order from Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia covers 12 postal districts that serve 15 states, including Wisconsin’s Lakeland District, which encompasses most of Wisconsin and portions of northern Illinois. The sweep is to be conducted by USPS postal inspectors. (Numbers of districts and states updated with further reporting.)

Sullivan’s order stated that the sweep was “to ensure that no ballots have been held up and that any identified ballots are immediately sent out for delivery.” More details are at CNN, as well as the Washington Post.

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Erik Gunn

Deputy Editor Erik Gunn reports and writes on work and the economy, health policy and related subjects, for the Wisconsin Examiner. He spent 24 years as a freelance writer for Milwaukee Magazine, Isthmus, The Progressive, BNA Inc., and other publications, winning awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, beat coverage, business writing, and commentary. An East Coast native, he previously covered labor for The Milwaukee Journal after reporting for newspapers in upstate New York and northern Illinois. He's a graduate of Beloit College (English Comp.) and the Columbia School of Journalism. Off hours he is the Examiner's resident Springsteen and Jackson Browne fanboy and model railroad nerd.