The Virginia Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service on Friday, alleging local branches failed to deliver and process election-related material ahead of its high stakes gubernatorial race, thereby "threatening to disenfranchise thousands of Virginia voters."

The organization says delays in election-related mail across Albemarle County, which includes the city of Charlottesville, James City County, which is adjacent to Williamsburg, and the area of Portsmouth near Norfolk, are "particularly egregious," according to the lawsuit.

Friday's lawsuit was filed less than two weeks before the closely watched governor's race between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin. Democrats are hoping to hold onto the governor's mansion and maintain control of the state legislature, while Youngkin seeks to be Virginia's first Republican to win a statewide election since 2009.

"Thousands of ballots delivered to postal facilities by the general registrars weeks ago are still outstanding and, weeks later, have not yet even been scanned into USPS's system. Even if these voters do eventually receive their ballots before Election Day, the slowdowns promise that they will not have sufficient time to send them back with assurance that they will arrive in time to be counted," the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court says.

"And even if a ballot reaches the appropriate election official before the receipt deadline, if the official identifies any issues with it that require remediation before it may be counted, the voter will have run out of time to rectify the problem."

Voters across Virginia had until 5 p.m, ET, Friday to request a mail-in ballot to be sent to them to cast a vote in the Nov. 2 election, according to the state's Department of Elections.

The USPS on Saturday morning confirmed receipt of CNN's request for comment.

CNN has requested data from the Virginia Department of Elections as well as comment from the Republican Party of Virginia.

USPS, under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's leadership, recently implemented new service standards that include longer first-class mail delivery times and cuts to post office hours. The changes were part of DeJoy's 10-year plan to help the embattled agency be more competitive and improve its financial situation.

Virginia joined 20 other states in suing USPS last year, pushing back on the agency's changes that disrupted mail delivery across the country and triggered accusations that former President Donald Trump and his appointees were trying to undermine mail-in voting.

In its lawsuit, the Virginia Democratic Party said the thousands of unscanned ballots in the three counties as of Tuesday make up more than a quarter of all ballots voters requested, based on Virginia Department of Elections data.

The lawsuit also said that the average percentage of unscanned ballots across the state was 10% — more than 25,000 ballots issued to voters — as of Tuesday.

In the last Virginia governor race in 2017, Albemarle County and Portsmouth went to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, while his GOP opponent Ed Gillespie narrowly won James City County.

The three counties, which the Virginia Democratic Party allege are experiencing significant delays, all voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, with a slim victory for Biden in James City County.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida inched closer Tuesday to implementing new vote by mail restrictions. In a split decision, state lawmakers advanced a bill that would make it harder to obtain an absentee ballot for future elections.

Florida, which allows anyone who requests a ballot to vote by mail, saw an unprecedented number of vote-by-mail ballots in 2020. The state was happy to report officials discovered no widespread fraud or issues. The Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, told the press Nov. 4 that Florida was an example for others.

"The way Florida did it, I think, inspires confidence," DeSantis said. "I think that's how elections should be run."

Even so, Senate Bill 90 aims to change absentee voting rules. If approved as amended, Floridians would need to request mail ballots ahead of every election cycle instead of every two.

The policy is also retroactive. Those who applied to vote by mail last year would need to reapply for 2022.

"The thing I'm after, easy to vote, hard to cheat and integrity without ballots," said the legislation’s sponsor, State Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Lady Lake.

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Though fraud was minimal in 2020, Baxley said the huge absentee turnout suggests more protections are needed moving forward.

"When you start mailing ballots out, you have got to be more cautious," he said. "This is a new experience to do it on the scale that we've been operating. It just bears us well to protect the integrity of that voter file."

Election supervisors have concerns. The change, the state association said, could mean more work and money to notify voters.

"The costs for that outreach will be where the rubber meets the road," said Okaloosa County Election Supervisor Paul Lux. "That will fall to the counties to do. It will not come from state money."

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Democrats, who had a vote-by-mail advantage in 2020, worry passage will disenfranchise voters. Though lawmakers in the House have yet to file a version of their own, the state's co-Minority Leader Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, felt the legislation was unneeded and questioned its motives.

"I would hope those partisan inclinations aren't the overarching reason and thrust behind this bill, but we'll wait until we see it," Jenne said.

Tuesday's five to four party-line decision in the Ethics and Elections Committee moves the bill to its second of three Senate stops before reaching the chamber floor.

The lawmaking session begins March 2.

This story was originally published by Forrest Saunders on WPTV in Palm Beach, Florida.