Individuals will instead have to mail any paper filings to the Clerk's Office, according to the order, which was signed by Chief Judge Sharon Prost on Monday.
"The Clerk's Office is directed to suspend the receipt of paper filings and submissions in-person by couriers, third-party commercial carriers, and members of the public," Judge Prost said. "Electronic filing access and deadlines, as well as any scheduled hearings, are unaffected by this order."
The changes went into effect Tuesday at 12:01 a.m.
The Clerk's Office didn't respond to after-hours requests for comment.
The court order came down as downtown Washington, D.C., braced itself for potential protests as the election results roll in.
On Tuesday afternoon, the D.C. Police Department shut down a wide swath of streets surrounding the White House. The department previously cautioned the public to prepare for street closures in an Oct. 29 traffic advisory designating the roads as emergency no-parking zones for Election Day.
"Multiple First Amendment demonstrations are scheduled to occur in the District of Columbia," the D.C. police said. "In conjunction with this event, there will be parking restrictions and potential street closures."
Businesses in downtown D.C. have boarded up their windows in the days leading up to the election, according to several first-person videos posted on Twitter. The White House has similarly prepared, with crews erecting a security fence around the building, multiple outlets reported.
The Federal Circuit faces Lafayette Park, which is across the street from the White House, an epicenter for anti-racist demonstrations after the Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, a Black man.
The appeals court briefly shut down operations in early June, when the National Courts Building — which houses the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims — closed to court staffers and the public following a turbulent week in the area.
On May 31, protesters set fire to the basement of St. John's Episcopal Church, which is across the street from the Federal Circuit, and the lobby of the AFL-CIO's headquarters, next door to the church. One day later, police cleared Lafayette Park of peaceful protesters with flash-bang grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets, batons and horses.
--Additional reporting by Khorri Atkinson and Ryan Davis. Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
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