A federal judge earlier on Tuesday ordered the USPS to have postal inspectors sweep postal facilities and find election ballots across the country that have been scanned into the postal system but not delivered to election authorities.

If the ballots are not delivered today, Election Day, in most cases they will not be counted.

But Justice Department attorneys said that the Postal Service was “unable” to meet the judge’s order to have the ballots located and processed by 3:30 p.m. Attorneys for USPS noted that the sweeps were already scheduled to occur from 4 to 8 p.m. on election night.

“Defendants were unable to accelerate the daily review process to run from 12:30pm to 3:00pm, without significantly disrupting preexisting activities on the day of the Election,” the USPS said in its response to U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, adding the deadline was something they “did not understand the Court to invite or require.”

BREAKING: USPS fails to meet deadline set by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to sweep facilities and immediately deliver remaining mail ballots. As of this week, USPS said there were some 300,000 ballots that lacked a delivery scan pic.twitter.com/5ODluNmk0Z

— John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) November 3, 2020

The attorneys also said: “There are only one or two Inspectors in any one facility, and thus they do not have the ability to personally scour the entire facility. Indeed, doing so would be impractical (given the size of that facility) and would take them away from their other pressing Election Mail-related responsibilities, as detailed above.”

Plaintiffs sought an emergency hearing request after the USPS failed to meet the deadline, but Judge Sullivan “opted instead to let the USPS’s regular sweep and certification process continue,” Vice News reported.

“Per standard operating procedure, USPS personnel sweep every facility, including the ones in question here, for ballots at least once a day during election cycles and report ‘all clear’ certifications after they’re complete,” the reported added.

Nevertheless, one of the nation’s preeminent voting rights experts, Ari Berman, said, “Louis DeJoy should be held in contempt of court & face criminal charges for obstructing an election if these ballots are not delivered on time.”

He adds:

Mail delays got worse closer to election, at same time GOP courts gave voters less time to return ballots. This is unconscionable https://t.co/xgsEYw3Qnw

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 3, 2020

Election law expert Rick Hasen:

The biggest election day failure is from USPS to timely deliver the ballots, and we can put the blame squarely on DeJoy.
Thanks to @johnkruzel who has been all over this storyhttps://t.co/ktQbbM9zV8

— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) November 3, 2020

Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, now an NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst:

Please read: Judge Emmet Sullivan ORDERED a full “sweep” of postal facilities, ORDERED the delivery of all ballots and ORDERED the “defendants” – that would be Louis DeJoy and company – to certify that “NO BALLOTS WERE LEFT BEHIND.” Let’s remember these words from Judge Sullivan. pic.twitter.com/V2x3xZcMQg

— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) November 3, 2020

(Correction: This article incorrectly attributed quotes to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. This article has also been updated to clarify that the USPS had already scheduled ballot sweeps.)

Enjoy good journalism?

… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.

Value Raw Story?

… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has cut advertising rates in half, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.