Judge Approves Deal Between USPS and Civil Rights Groups to Fast-Track Ballots in Georgia Runoff Elections

A mailman wearing a mask and gloves to protect himself and others from COVID-19, loads a postal truck with packages at a United States Postal Service (USPS) post office location in Washington, on April 16, 2020. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

A federal judge on Dec.24 approved of a deal struck between the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and civil rights groups that would treat absentee ballots as express mail ahead of Georgia’s critical runoff election on Jan. 5.

The organization agreed to treat ballots as express mail if they were still in a processing plant in the three days before the election, according to the court documents (pdf).