The United States Postal Service (USPS) has agreed to provisions that stipulate the timely and efficient transportation of Georgia ballots in the final weeks leading up to the second round of elections.
In a formal agreement established between the federal agency and civil rights groups pushing for electoral equality, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Vote Forward, the USPS pledged to comply with terms that aim to reduce delays and ensure that all ballots are counted.
Some 2 million votes have already been cast in Georgia ahead of the January 5 runoff runoff, which will determine whether Democrats will be able to win a majority in the U.S. Senate. Republican senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are campaigning to defend their seats against their respective Democratic opponents, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, after the November races. In Georgia, disputes go to the second round when no candidate receives a plurality of popular votes during an initial election.
The new agreement, filed on Wednesday night, requires postal workers to expedite the delivery of the postal ballots he identifies at processing facilities from January 2 to 4, on the eve of Georgia’s second-round runs. This “express” route aims to guarantee overnight delivery to local electoral departments.
Additional terms oblige the postal service to dispatch bank notes from a printing press in Albany, New York, to their respective destinations at Georgia homes; perform daily scans on the premises to locate any packages that have been lost; and deliver completed ballots issued in Atlanta directly to the district electoral board.
The USPS also agreed to continue following the instructions ordered by the court previously made, as the bureau is approaching the end of a national electoral cycle that was heavily dependent on its services.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has given rise to an influx of absent votes across the country this year, due to concerns about the risks of transmission associated with personal meetings. A review of procedural changes within the USPS over the summer, which followed the appointment of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to the post of head of the agency, subsequently generated criticism and discomfort in light of his electoral responsibilities.
The changes quickly led to widespread delays and led to accusations by civilians and lawmakers, who suggested that they came as a result of President Donald Trump’s opposition to voting by mail. After a wave of lawsuits, DeJoy announced that the USPS would suspend modifications until after election day. The agency defended its integrity against summer criticism and continued to do the same in the language that appeared in Wednesday’s Georgia deal.
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“The USPS denies that it has in any way prevented the timely delivery of electoral correspondence and also denies that any additional measures that the USPS may implement under this agreement beyond those contemplated and being implemented in accordance with the December 8 and 14 memorandums. 2020 [establishing the terms related to Georgia’s mail ballots] they are necessary to guarantee the fast and safe delivery of the ballots, ”said the lawyers in one of the opening paragraphs of the agreement.
A USPS spokesman echoed that sentiment in a statement sent to Newsweek on Thursday, which reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to “the timely and secure delivery of electoral mail for the second round of Georgia”. The statement said that while the USPS cannot comment on pending lawsuits related to electoral correspondence, “it remains our opinion that none of the Electoral Courts’ lawsuits are justified by the facts or supported by applicable law.”