The United States Postal Service has failed to deliver a huge percentage of mail-in ballots to swing states on Election Day.

Swing states are states that could determine who wins the presidential election between U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

This failure to deliver mail-in ballots was discovered based on data filed with a federal court on Wednesday.

Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin are the states experiencing poor mail deliveries. These states have yet to declare who won in their state tallies.

Currently, vote counts in those states show thin gaps between the two presidential hopefuls. The outcomes in those states likely lean on the mailed-in ballots.

A USPS spokesperson later disputed claims that there were unaccounted ballots, saying that it is inaccurate, according to a CNBC News report.

The spokesman said that the ballots were delivered ahead of election deadlines. He further claimed that they imposed extraordinary measures to deliver ballots directly to the local board of elections.

(Photo : George Frey/Getty Images)
A Utah County Election worker picks up mailed ballots from the United States Postal Service office on October 26, 2020 in Provo, Utah. Utah is one of several states that has recently moved to mail-in ballots for presidential elections.

Related story: How Many Are Left Uncounted? USPS Blows Court Deadline to Find Missing Ballots

"When this occurs, by design, these ballots bypass certain processing operations and do not receive a final scan," the spokesperson was quoted in a report.

They are then delivered directly to the boards of elections, the agency claimed. The agency's representative added that the Postal Inspection Service has physically inspected all plants that process ballots.

Deadline Missed

USPS also missed a deadline ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan to check facilities in states for missing ballots.

The USPS also missed a court-ordered deadline on Tuesday to sweep mail-processing facilities in over a dozen states for missing election ballots. The judge released the order after USPS said its delivery performance had dropped over the past five days.

The agency could not determine whether over 300,000 ballots received in its facilities had been delivered. The federal judge gave USPS until 3:00 p.m. to do the task.

However, USPS said in its update to Sullivan at 4:30 p.m. that it failed to conduct the sweep as it would significantly disrupt Election Day activities, as reported by USA Today.

The agency said it would resume its daily review process in 220 facilities. Sullivan ordered a court hearing on Wednesday regarding the matter, adding that someone may have a price to pay for that.

He added that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy may have to testify or be deposed in the case.

USPS official responsible for the processing of mail-in ballots, Kevin Bray, testified about the ballot handling process when the hearing resumed.

Mail-in Voting

Many American voters shifted to mail-in voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, the voting process has received criticisms and concerns regarding it accuracy and credibility.

Trump has repeatedly slammed mail-in voting even after he voted in person in Florida. However, his campaign urges voters to vote for Trump by sending in mail-in ballots.

The president claimed that mail-in voting could never be secure as voting in person, as reported by Forbes.

Around 42 percent of Democrats said they intend to vote by mail. Only 12 percent of Republicans said the plan to voted by mail, with 77 percent saying they intend to vote in person, according to a Gallup poll.

Related story: USPS to Apply 'Extraordinary Measures' to Deliver Mail-In Ballots on Time