alternet--2020-10-12--Voting Rights Roundup: Using Jim Crow logic, federal court greenlights age discrimination in voting

● Indiana : A panel of three Republican-appointed judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against plaintiffs who were challenging a GOP-backed restriction that Indiana voters must present a non-COVID excuse to vote by mail this fall .
Plaintiffs had argued that an exemption for voters aged 65 and above violates the 26th Amendment 's ban on age discrimination in voting , but the appellate court disagreed in a manner that has potentially far-reaching consequences .
In their ruling , two of the three judges would effectively eviscerate any real protection from age discrimination .
The plaintiffs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to vote based on race or sex would violate the 15th Amendment or 19th Amendment , respectively , which the 26th Amendment mirrors with almost-identical language .
But the majority wrote that those amendments themselves do n't subject suspect voting laws to heightened judicial scrutiny , saying instead that such scrutiny comes from the 14th Amendment 's Equal Protection clause .
The majority 's position , in other words , is that the four amendments expanding voting rights—the 15th , 19th , 24th , and 26th—do n't actually provide protections without the 14th @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amendments , however , all contain the phrase `` the right to vote ... shall not be denied or abridged on account of '' the category they cover .
But since age is not a protected class like race and gender under equal protection jurisprudence , the 26th Amendment would become almost meaningless in practice under this view .
This line of reasoning is almost indistinguishable from the jurisprudence advanced by judges during the Jim Crow era to deny the plain intent of the 15th Amendment when upholding laws that prevented Black citizens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the flimsy basis that they did n't explicitly ban African Americans from voting .
These Jim Crow laws , such as literacy tests , generally did not make it impossible for Black voters to exercise their rights in theory , much like the absentee excuse requirement does n't prevent younger voters from voting in person in theory .
In practice , however , Jim Crow rules did make voting impossible for Black voters , just as the pandemic has made in-person voting impossible for many voters .
The 7th Circuit 's ruling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roll out the red carpet for older voters—a Republican-leaning demographic—and impose additional burdens on younger voters , who typically favor Democrats .
It could even let GOP legislators pass laws with illicit racial intent by claiming their motives are based on age instead , since young voters tend to be much more diverse than older ones .
The plaintiffs have not yet indicated if they will appeal further .
The possibility of an adverse ruling by the Supreme Court could stay their hand , as such a decision would have the effect of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the entire country .
In a separate case , a federal district court has temporarily stayed its ruling for a week after ordering that ballots must count if postmarked by Election Day and received a few days afterward in order to give the 7th Circuit time to consider the GOP 's appeal .
● Arizona : In early October , the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would take up Arizona Republicans ' appeal in a case that could strike a crippling blow against the last remaining pillar of the Voting Rights Act @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Arizona that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found had both the effect and intent of discriminating against Black , Latino , and Native American voters .
If both findings are overturned , it may become impossible to challenge such laws in the future .
Earlier this year , the 9th Circuit blocked the two laws : one that bars counting votes cast in the wrong precinct but in the right county , and another that limits who can turn in another person 's absentee mail ballot on a voter 's behalf @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voting even before the pandemic , but the 9th Circuit observed that only 18 % of Native American voters receive mail service , and many living on remote reservations lack reliable transportation options .
That has led some voters to ask others in their community to turn their completed ballots in , which Republicans have sought to deride as `` ballot harvesting '' in an attempt to delegitimize the practice .
The law the court struck down had restricted who could handle another person 's mail ballot to just a close relative , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The 9th Circuit 's ruling also invalidated a separate provision prohibiting out-of-precinct voting , in which a voter shows up and casts a ballot at the wrong polling place but in the right county on Election Day .
Under the invalidated law , voters in such circumstances could only cast a provisional ballot , which were automatically rejected if it was later confirmed that the voter had indeed showed up at the wrong polling place .
This ruling relied on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act , which prohibits laws that have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of whether there was an intent to discriminate .
The finding of a discriminatory effect is critical because it 's often much more difficult if not impossible to prove that lawmakers acted with illicit intent , whereas statistical analysis can more readily prove that a law has a disparate negative impact on protected racial groups .
Consequently , it 's this so-called `` effects test '' that is the key remaining plank of the Voting Rights Act following the notorious 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder .
Some legal observers remain optimistic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , since Arizona Republicans are not challenging the constitutional grounds for the VRA 's effects test .
However , others have noted that even if the effects test is n't formally struck down , the Supreme Court could make it so difficult to comply with the requirements to prove discrimination that the VRA would nevertheless become meaningless .
Chief Justice John Roberts has spent his entire career fighting to destroy the Voting Rights Act , beginning with his service as a young lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department .
If Judge Amy Coney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , hard-right appointees would have a solid majority .
Should that come to pass , the Voting Rights Act 's days could very well be numbered , whether this case or another is the vehicle .
● U.S .
Territories : Plaintiffs originally from Hawaii , including a civilian contractor with the military assigned to Guam , have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a federal law that prohibits them from voting for president and Congress solely because they reside in American Samoa , Guam , Puerto Rico , or the U.S. Virgin Islands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ originating from the 50 states retain the right to vote for federal offices in their former state if they live in a foreign country or the Northern Mariana Islands but not in the other four territories .
They argue that the system is unconstitutional by privileging citizens who move to one territory above the other four .
This lawsuit is similar to one that unsuccessfully tried to extend voting rights to U.S. citizens who moved to one of the first four territories above and became disenfranchised .
In that case , the Supreme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the plaintiffs ' appeal after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the plaintiffs .
Additionally in that case , the Trump administration proposed disenfranchising citizens in the Northern Mariana Islands as a solution to the purported equal protection violation .
● Maine : The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the GOP 's request to stay a state Supreme Court ruling that authorized the use of instant-runoff voting for the presidency this fall .
● 2020 Census : The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to block an order that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ requiring census counting efforts to continue through Oct. 31 as originally scheduled instead of letting Trump cut them short by nearly a month .
● Alaska : An Alaska state court has blocked a requirement that absentee voters have their ballots witnessed .
An appeal to the state Supreme Court is possible .
● Arizona : A panel of three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily rejected the state GOP 's appeal of a recent lower court ruling that extended Arizona 's voter registration deadline from Oct. 5 to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state Republican Party had the standing to appeal and instead inviting GOP state Attorney General Mark Brnovich to file his own appeal .
Brnovich had filed a motion to intervene as defendant after Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs declined to appeal , but the court has not yet ruled on his motion .
In a separate case , a panel on the 9th Circuit has sided with Brnovich and the GOP by staying a lower court ruling that had allowed voters up to have up to five days after Election Day to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signature on their mail ballots instead of requiring such corrections be done by Election Day .
Plaintiffs had challenged the law by noting that voters whose signature purportedly did n't match the one on file already had five days after the election to fix the problem but not if the signature was missing entirely .
● Georgia : A federal court has rejected a lawsuit seeking to require Gwinnett County , a large and diverse county in the Atlanta suburbs .
to send out absentee ballot applications in Spanish , saying the plaintiffs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the lone one in the state subject to the Voting Rights Act 's language-minority protections due to its large Latino minority .
● Iowa : An Iowa state court has blocked a directive from Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate forbidding local election officials from sending out absentee ballot applications with voter information pre-filled .
Pate has asked the conservative-dominated state Supreme Court to stay the ruling .
● Maine : A Maine state court has rejected a lawsuit by voting rights advocates seeking to have ballots postmarked by Election Day counted .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ rejected for alleged signature mismatches the opportunity to fix any problems and have appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court .
Separately , Democratic Gov .
Janet Mills says she will not issue an executive order requiring that ballots postmarked by Election Day be counted .
● Michigan : Democratic Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer has signed a bill allowing election officials to begin processing mail ballots the day before Election Day .
Previously , officials were only allowed to start doing so the morning of Election Day .
● Missouri : The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' appeal of a lower court ruling that dismissed their challenge to a GOP-backed requirement that absentee ballots cast by voters under the age of 65 , who are typically less Republican than elderly voters , be notarized .
In a separate federal lawsuit , a district court has ruled against the GOP and blocked a state law that prohibits voters from returning their mail ballots in-person ; Republicans announced they will appeal .
● Montana : The Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by Republicans to block a directive by Democratic Gov @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to decide whether to conduct next month 's election by mail ; counties home to 94 % of Montana residents have opted to do so .
● Nevada : The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected a challenge by Republican Sharron Angle to the state 's plan to hold next month 's election by mail .
● New Hampshire : A New Hampshire state court has largely rejected a lawsuit seeking to have election officials count mail ballots postmarked by Election Day , prepay postage , provide drop boxes , and allow third-party ballot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal judge has rejected a Trump campaign challenge to New Jersey 's plan to conduct next month 's election by mail .
Plaintiffs had specifically challenged provisions that allow election officials to start counting ballots up to 10 days before Election Day , and to accept ballots that lack a postmark up to two days after Election Day .
● North Carolina : A federal judge has temporarily blocked a settlement approved by a North Carolina state court between voting rights advocates and the state Board of Elections requiring that ballots postmarked by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be counted .
The agreement also effectively waived a requirement that absentee voters have their ballots witnessed .
● Ohio : A federal district court has overruled Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose 's recent directive barring counties from setting up more than one location for voters to drop off their absentee mail ballots , which LaRose instituted shortly after a state appellate court ruled last week that he was allowed but not required to let counties operate multiple locations .
LaRose immediately appealed the federal ruling to the 6th Circuit Court of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail ballot dropoff options to just one per county regardless of population size would disproportionately hurt Democrats if allowed to go forward , since Ohio 's biggest counties lean Democratic while the smallest ones overall favor Republicans .
It would also harm Black voters , since most live in large urban counties .
● South Carolina : The Supreme Court has overturned a 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that had suspended the witness requirement for absentee mail ballots , ruling that it was too close to Election Day to make such changes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confusion , but this ruling may just do that very thing .
In its Oct. 5 decision , the court held that those who had already voted by mail—more than 150,000 ballots had already been mailed out and an unknown number returned—could still have them count if they lacked a witness signature but were received by election officials no later than Oct. 7 .
However , in light of the Trump administration 's effort to sabotage postal delivery service to stymie mail voting , voters could have legally mailed a valid vote days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrive after the Oct. 7 deadline and thus be rejected .
Three of the most right-wing justices on the court—Samuel Alito , Neil Gorsuch , and Clarence Thomas—would have gone even further and thrown out even votes cast before the ruling came down if they lacked a witness signature .
Separately , voting rights advocates have filed two additional federal lawsuits seeking to expand voting access .
The first one aims to require officials to notify voters and give them a chance to fix purported problems with their mail ballot signature .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's Oct. 4 voter registration deadline , noting that the pandemic has upended normal avenues for voter registration activity .
● Tennessee : A federal district court has temporarily blocked a GOP-backed law that required certain newly registered voters to present a photo ID in-person to be able to vote by mail , ordering GOP officials to allow such voters who registered by mail to include a photocopy of their ID with their mail ballot instead .
This law was likely to make it more burdensome for groups such as college students , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the pandemic , to exercise their right to vote .
● Texas : Texas ' all-Republican state Supreme Court has issued a ruling blocking officials in Harris County , the state 's largest , from sending mail ballot applications to all 2.4 million registered voters .
The court ruled that the county could n't mail applications to those beyond just voters age 65 and up , who had already been sent an application and are the only ones allowed to vote by mail without a non-COVID excuse .
Meanwhile , voting rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a new state-level lawsuit over GOP Gov .
Greg Abbott 's recent order prohibiting counties from setting up more than one drop box to receive mail ballots .
That decision may make it disproportionately harder for Democrats and voters of color to vote since they are heavily concentrated in a handful of massively populated counties such as Harris ; Texas ' smaller counties are overall much whiter and more Republican .
Plaintiffs argue that the order violates equal protection and the state constitution 's right-to-vote guarantee .
● Wisconsin : A panel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled 2-1 to reverse its earlier position and grant the GOP 's request to stay a lower court decision that had ordered ballots to count if postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 9 and extended the deadline from Oct. 14 to Oct. 21 to register online or by mail ( Wisconsin still allows in-person registration on Election Day ) .
Previously , this same panel had unanimously rejected the GOP 's appeal on the grounds that Republican legislative leaders lacked the standing to represent the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Supreme Court ruling .
However , plaintiffs subsequently asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to clarify that they did have standing , which the court 's conservative majority did in a 4-3 ruling along ideological lines .
Consequently , the 7th Circuit panel sided with the GOP by saying it was too close to the election to change voting rules .
However , Judge Ilana Rovner , a George H.W .
Bush appointee , dissented by saying the majority 's decision will cause `` many thousands of Wisconsin citizens [ to ] lose their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her dissent , `` Good luck and G-d bless , Wisconsin .
You are going to need it . ''
Democrats have not announced if they will appeal .
● Overseas Voters : Civilian voters residing abroad who retain the right to vote in federal races in their last state of residence have filed a federal lawsuit against officials in Georgia , Kentucky , New York , Ohio , Pennsylvania , Texas , and Wisconsin seeking the right to vote electronically due to the pandemic and delays with postal delivery , which may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efforts to sabotage the Postal Service .
Active duty military service members stationed abroad already have the ability to cast their ballots electronically via fax or email .
Civilians abroad , meanwhile , can obtain but not return their ballots electronically .
Plaintiffs argue that there 's a considerable risk that their ballots will not arrive in time and that the significantly higher cost of sending mail from a foreign country can be prohibitive .
While extending electronic voting to overseas civilians would be one way to ensure they are n't disenfranchised , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ internet voting presents critical security risks .

LEADING OFF
●Indiana: A panel of three Republican-appointed judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against plaintiffs who were challenging a GOP-backed restriction that Indiana voters must present a non-COVID excuse to vote by mail this fall. Plaintiffs had argued that an exemption for voters aged 65 and above violates the 26th Amendment's ban on age discrimination in voting, but the appellate court disagreed in a manner that has potentially far-reaching consequences.
In their ruling, two of the three judges would effectively eviscerate any real protection from age discrimination. The plaintiffs argued that a law restricting the right to vote based on race or sex would violate the 15th Amendment or 19th Amendment, respectively, which the 26th Amendment mirrors with almost-identical language. But the majority wrote that those amendments themselves don't subject suspect voting laws to heightened judicial scrutiny, saying instead that such scrutiny comes from the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection clause.
The majority's position, in other words, is that the four amendments expanding voting rights—the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th—don't actually provide protections without the 14th Amendment backing them up. These four amendments, however, all contain the phrase "the right to vote ... shall not be denied or abridged on account of" the category they cover. But since age is not a protected class like race and gender under equal protection jurisprudence, the 26th Amendment would become almost meaningless in practice under this view.
This line of reasoning is almost indistinguishable from the jurisprudence advanced by judges during the Jim Crow era to deny the plain intent of the 15th Amendment when upholding laws that prevented Black citizens from voting in all but name, on the flimsy basis that they didn't explicitly ban African Americans from voting.
These Jim Crow laws, such as literacy tests, generally did not make it impossible for Black voters to exercise their rights in theory, much like the absentee excuse requirement doesn't prevent younger voters from voting in person in theory. In practice, however, Jim Crow rules did make voting impossible for Black voters, just as the pandemic has made in-person voting impossible for many voters.
The 7th Circuit's ruling also opens the door to laws that roll out the red carpet for older voters—a Republican-leaning demographic—and impose additional burdens on younger voters, who typically favor Democrats. It could even let GOP legislators pass laws with illicit racial intent by claiming their motives are based on age instead, since young voters tend to be much more diverse than older ones.
The plaintiffs have not yet indicated if they will appeal further. The possibility of an adverse ruling by the Supreme Court could stay their hand, as such a decision would have the effect of making the 7th Circuit's logic binding on the entire country.
In a separate case, a federal district court has temporarily stayed its ruling for a week after ordering that ballots must count if postmarked by Election Day and received a few days afterward in order to give the 7th Circuit time to consider the GOP's appeal.
VOTER SUPPRESSION
●Arizona: In early October, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would take up Arizona Republicans' appeal in a case that could strike a crippling blow against the last remaining pillar of the Voting Rights Act.
This case involves two Republican-backed laws in Arizona that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found had both the effect and intent of discriminating against Black, Latino, and Native American voters. If both findings are overturned, it may become impossible to challenge such laws in the future.
Earlier this year, the 9th Circuit blocked the two laws: one that bars counting votes cast in the wrong precinct but in the right county, and another that limits who can turn in another person's absentee mail ballot on a voter's behalf.
Arizona had largely transitioned to mail voting even before the pandemic, but the 9th Circuit observed that only 18% of Native American voters receive mail service, and many living on remote reservations lack reliable transportation options. That has led some voters to ask others in their community to turn their completed ballots in, which Republicans have sought to deride as "ballot harvesting" in an attempt to delegitimize the practice. The law the court struck down had restricted who could handle another person's mail ballot to just a close relative, caregiver, or postal service worker.
The 9th Circuit's ruling also invalidated a separate provision prohibiting out-of-precinct voting, in which a voter shows up and casts a ballot at the wrong polling place but in the right county on Election Day. Under the invalidated law, voters in such circumstances could only cast a provisional ballot, which were automatically rejected if it was later confirmed that the voter had indeed showed up at the wrong polling place.
This ruling relied on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits laws that have a discriminatory effect against racial minorities regardless of whether there was an intent to discriminate. The finding of a discriminatory effect is critical because it's often much more difficult if not impossible to prove that lawmakers acted with illicit intent, whereas statistical analysis can more readily prove that a law has a disparate negative impact on protected racial groups.
Consequently, it's this so-called "effects test" that is the key remaining plank of the Voting Rights Act following the notorious 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder. Some legal observers remain optimistic that the worst may not yet happen, since Arizona Republicans are not challenging the constitutional grounds for the VRA's effects test. However, others have noted that even if the effects test isn't formally struck down, the Supreme Court could make it so difficult to comply with the requirements to prove discrimination that the VRA would nevertheless become meaningless.
Chief Justice John Roberts has spent his entire career fighting to destroy the Voting Rights Act, beginning with his service as a young lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department. If Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to the Supreme Court, hard-right appointees would have a solid majority. Should that come to pass, the Voting Rights Act's days could very well be numbered, whether this case or another is the vehicle.
●U.S. Territories: Plaintiffs originally from Hawaii, including a civilian contractor with the military assigned to Guam, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a federal law that prohibits them from voting for president and Congress solely because they reside in American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. The plaintiffs note that U.S. citizens originating from the 50 states retain the right to vote for federal offices in their former state if they live in a foreign country or the Northern Mariana Islands but not in the other four territories. They argue that the system is unconstitutional by privileging citizens who move to one territory above the other four.
This lawsuit is similar to one that unsuccessfully tried to extend voting rights to U.S. citizens who moved to one of the first four territories above and became disenfranchised. In that case, the Supreme Court in 2018 declined to take up the plaintiffs' appeal after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the plaintiffs. Additionally in that case, the Trump administration proposed disenfranchising citizens in the Northern Mariana Islands as a solution to the purported equal protection violation.
ELECTORAL REFORM
●Maine: The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the GOP's request to stay a state Supreme Court ruling that authorized the use of instant-runoff voting for the presidency this fall.
2020 CENSUS
●2020 Census: The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to block an order that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued requiring census counting efforts to continue through Oct. 31 as originally scheduled instead of letting Trump cut them short by nearly a month.
ELECTION CHANGES
●Alaska: An Alaska state court has blocked a requirement that absentee voters have their ballots witnessed. An appeal to the state Supreme Court is possible.
●Arizona: A panel of three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily rejected the state GOP's appeal of a recent lower court ruling that extended Arizona's voter registration deadline from Oct. 5 to Oct. 23, expressing doubt that the state Republican Party had the standing to appeal and instead inviting GOP state Attorney General Mark Brnovich to file his own appeal. Brnovich had filed a motion to intervene as defendant after Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs declined to appeal, but the court has not yet ruled on his motion.
In a separate case, a panel on the 9th Circuit has sided with Brnovich and the GOP by staying a lower court ruling that had allowed voters up to have up to five days after Election Day to "cure" problems with a missing signature on their mail ballots instead of requiring such corrections be done by Election Day. Plaintiffs had challenged the law by noting that voters whose signature purportedly didn't match the one on file already had five days after the election to fix the problem but not if the signature was missing entirely.
●Georgia: A federal court has rejected a lawsuit seeking to require Gwinnett County, a large and diverse county in the Atlanta suburbs. to send out absentee ballot applications in Spanish, saying the plaintiffs lacked standing even though the county is the lone one in the state subject to the Voting Rights Act's language-minority protections due to its large Latino minority.
●Iowa: An Iowa state court has blocked a directive from Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate forbidding local election officials from sending out absentee ballot applications with voter information pre-filled. Pate has asked the conservative-dominated state Supreme Court to stay the ruling.
●Maine: A Maine state court has rejected a lawsuit by voting rights advocates seeking to have ballots postmarked by Election Day counted. Plaintiffs also wanted voters whose ballots are rejected for alleged signature mismatches the opportunity to fix any problems and have appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court. Separately, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills says she will not issue an executive order requiring that ballots postmarked by Election Day be counted.
●Michigan: Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed a bill allowing election officials to begin processing mail ballots the day before Election Day. Previously, officials were only allowed to start doing so the morning of Election Day.
●Missouri: The Missouri Supreme Court has rejected voting advocates' appeal of a lower court ruling that dismissed their challenge to a GOP-backed requirement that absentee ballots cast by voters under the age of 65, who are typically less Republican than elderly voters, be notarized. In a separate federal lawsuit, a district court has ruled against the GOP and blocked a state law that prohibits voters from returning their mail ballots in-person; Republicans announced they will appeal.
●Montana: The Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by Republicans to block a directive by Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock allowing county election officials to decide whether to conduct next month's election by mail; counties home to 94% of Montana residents have opted to do so.
●Nevada: The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected a challenge by Republican Sharron Angle to the state's plan to hold next month's election by mail.
●New Hampshire: A New Hampshire state court has largely rejected a lawsuit seeking to have election officials count mail ballots postmarked by Election Day, prepay postage, provide drop boxes, and allow third-party ballot collection.
●New Jersey: A federal judge has rejected a Trump campaign challenge to New Jersey's plan to conduct next month's election by mail. Plaintiffs had specifically challenged provisions that allow election officials to start counting ballots up to 10 days before Election Day, and to accept ballots that lack a postmark up to two days after Election Day.
●North Carolina: A federal judge has temporarily blocked a settlement approved by a North Carolina state court between voting rights advocates and the state Board of Elections requiring that ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within nine days be counted. The agreement also effectively waived a requirement that absentee voters have their ballots witnessed.
●Ohio: A federal district court has overruled Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose's recent directive barring counties from setting up more than one location for voters to drop off their absentee mail ballots, which LaRose instituted shortly after a state appellate court ruled last week that he was allowed but not required to let counties operate multiple locations. LaRose immediately appealed the federal ruling to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
LaRose's attempt to limit mail ballot dropoff options to just one per county regardless of population size would disproportionately hurt Democrats if allowed to go forward, since Ohio's biggest counties lean Democratic while the smallest ones overall favor Republicans. It would also harm Black voters, since most live in large urban counties.
●South Carolina: The Supreme Court has overturned a 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that had suspended the witness requirement for absentee mail ballots, ruling that it was too close to Election Day to make such changes under a principle designed to avoid voter confusion, but this ruling may just do that very thing.
In its Oct. 5 decision, the court held that those who had already voted by mail—more than 150,000 ballots had already been mailed out and an unknown number returned—could still have them count if they lacked a witness signature but were received by election officials no later than Oct. 7. However, in light of the Trump administration's effort to sabotage postal delivery service to stymie mail voting, voters could have legally mailed a valid vote days before the ruling only for it to arrive after the Oct. 7 deadline and thus be rejected.
Three of the most right-wing justices on the court—Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas—would have gone even further and thrown out even votes cast before the ruling came down if they lacked a witness signature.
Separately, voting rights advocates have filed two additional federal lawsuits seeking to expand voting access. The first one aims to require officials to notify voters and give them a chance to fix purported problems with their mail ballot signature. The second seeks an extension of South Carolina's Oct. 4 voter registration deadline, noting that the pandemic has upended normal avenues for voter registration activity.
●Tennessee: A federal district court has temporarily blocked a GOP-backed law that required certain newly registered voters to present a photo ID in-person to be able to vote by mail, ordering GOP officials to allow such voters who registered by mail to include a photocopy of their ID with their mail ballot instead. This law was likely to make it more burdensome for groups such as college students, who may not be on campus due to the pandemic, to exercise their right to vote.
●Texas: Texas' all-Republican state Supreme Court has issued a ruling blocking officials in Harris County, the state's largest, from sending mail ballot applications to all 2.4 million registered voters. The court ruled that the county couldn't mail applications to those beyond just voters age 65 and up, who had already been sent an application and are the only ones allowed to vote by mail without a non-COVID excuse.
Meanwhile, voting rights advocates have filed a second federal lawsuit and a new state-level lawsuit over GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's recent order prohibiting counties from setting up more than one drop box to receive mail ballots. That decision may make it disproportionately harder for Democrats and voters of color to vote since they are heavily concentrated in a handful of massively populated counties such as Harris; Texas' smaller counties are overall much whiter and more Republican. Plaintiffs argue that the order violates equal protection and the state constitution's right-to-vote guarantee.
●Wisconsin: A panel of three Republican-appointed judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled 2-1 to reverse its earlier position and grant the GOP's request to stay a lower court decision that had ordered ballots to count if postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 9 and extended the deadline from Oct. 14 to Oct. 21 to register online or by mail (Wisconsin still allows in-person registration on Election Day).
Previously, this same panel had unanimously rejected the GOP's appeal on the grounds that Republican legislative leaders lacked the standing to represent the state on the basis of a prior state Supreme Court ruling. However, plaintiffs subsequently asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to clarify that they did have standing, which the court's conservative majority did in a 4-3 ruling along ideological lines.
Consequently, the 7th Circuit panel sided with the GOP by saying it was too close to the election to change voting rules. However, Judge Ilana Rovner, a George H.W. Bush appointee, dissented by saying the majority's decision will cause "many thousands of Wisconsin citizens [to] lose their right to vote." She concluded her dissent, "Good luck and G-d bless, Wisconsin. You are going to need it." Democrats have not announced if they will appeal.
●Overseas Voters: Civilian voters residing abroad who retain the right to vote in federal races in their last state of residence have filed a federal lawsuit against officials in Georgia, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin seeking the right to vote electronically due to the pandemic and delays with postal delivery, which may be exacerbated by the Trump administration's efforts to sabotage the Postal Service.
Active duty military service members stationed abroad already have the ability to cast their ballots electronically via fax or email. Civilians abroad, meanwhile, can obtain but not return their ballots electronically. Plaintiffs argue that there's a considerable risk that their ballots will not arrive in time and that the significantly higher cost of sending mail from a foreign country can be prohibitive. While extending electronic voting to overseas civilians would be one way to ensure they aren't disenfranchised, election security experts have widely warned that internet voting presents critical security risks.


alternet--2020-10-12--'A real time organic experiment': GOP senator blasted for not wearing mask despite positive COVID te

'A real time organic experiment': GOP senator blasted for not wearing mask despite positive COVID test

U.S .
Senator Mike Lee ( R-UT ) announced he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on October 2 , yet he is back in the Senate , taking part in today 's Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett , helmed by Chairman Lindsey Graham .
Senator Lee , who last week while convalescing with coronavirus , is being blasted once again , this time for not observing basic COVID protocols while still infected with a deadly disease .
Last week Senator Lee , a hard core Tea Party far right conservative who subscribes to the made-up methodologies of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , sits on the Judiciary Committee , was widely criticized for his attacks on democracy itself .
Monday morning , Senator Lee was back to push through Amy Coney Barrett 's Supreme Court nomination , in the middle of a presidential election.And he was n't even wearing a mask as he spoke to the Committee and the nominee .
He also had his mask pulled below his nose as his stood directly over 87-year old Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley .
Chairman Graham last week was forced to pull out of a debate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be tested for coronavirus , after attending the White House super-spreader event .
More responses to Mike Lee 's disregard for his colleagues and basic health care protocols :

U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) announced he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 on October 2, yet he is back in the Senate, taking part in today's Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett, helmed by Chairman Lindsey Graham.
Senator Lee, who last week while convalescing with coronavirus, is being blasted once again, this time for not observing basic COVID protocols while still infected with a deadly disease.
Last week Senator Lee, a hard core Tea Party far right conservative who subscribes to the made-up methodologies of constitutional interpretation known as textualism and originalism, sits on the Judiciary Committee, was widely criticized for his attacks on democracy itself.
His remarks were labeled fascism.
Monday morning, Senator Lee was back to push through Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination, in the middle of a presidential election.And he wasn't even wearing a mask as he spoke to the Committee and the nominee.
He also had his mask pulled below his nose as his stood directly over 87-year old Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley.
Chairman Graham last week was forced to pull out of a debate with his Democratic opponent because he refused to be tested for coronavirus, after attending the White House super-spreader event.
More responses to Mike Lee's disregard for his colleagues and basic health care protocols:


alternet--2020-10-12--ICE is on the ballot in these 12 critical down ballot races

This piece originally appeared at The Appeal : Political Report .
In many places that have long helped arrest and detain immigrants , voters will decide the fate of local partnerships with ICE , possibly dealing a series of blows to the agency .
Immigrants ' rights activists have been protesting local officials that help ICE arrest and deport immigrants , pressuring them to end those ties , and candidates for these offices have felt the heat .
Most significantly , their work has upended the usually quiet landscape of sheriff 's races , helping drive upset losses for longtime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Charlotte , North Carolina , in 2018 , and already this year—in spring primaries—in Cincinnati and in Athens , Georgia .
Will November 's general elections add to that trend ?
The GOP 's declining fortunes in longtime conservative bastions that have soured on President Trump—who has made hostility to immigration one of his defining rallying cries—have opened the door to political turnover in areas such as Atlanta 's northern suburbs .
Those areas were long impregnable to Democrats and any candidates running on cutting ties with ICE .
Elsewhere , some Democratic-leaning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policies .
Below I look at 12 of the most important state and local elections on the ballot this fall that will affect ICE 's reach and local immigration policy .
The list covers different sorts of offices .
But the lion 's share are races for county sheriff .
These officials have tremendous discretion on whether and how to respond to or collaborate with ICE .
That 's because most sheriffs are responsible for running local jails , which hundreds of thousands of people go through every year , often with little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And these jails are a major funnel into the country 's deportation machine , especially when a sheriff is keen on making them so , as The Appeal : Political Report explained in July .
For one , most sheriffs have sole authority over whether their county joins ICE 's 287 ( g ) program .
This partnership directly implicates sheriffs in harming immigrant communities by authorizing their deputies to act like federal immigration agents .
Only 145 counties in the nation have 287 ( g ) contracts at this moment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 's precisely where Nov. 3 could upend the local landscape : In counties that cover millions of residents—in Florida , Georgia , South Carolina , and Texas—candidates are running this fall on a promise of terminating existing 287 ( g ) contracts .
And that 's just the tip of the iceberg .
Sheriffs also decide whether they will agree to detain ICE prisoners in exchange for payments ; and whether to honor so-called ICE detainers , which are warrantless requests asking sheriffs to keep jailing a person past their scheduled release @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
All of these arrangements are on the line on Election Day , and with them the prospect that voters may slash ICE 's reach , as they did in 2018 , regardless of what happens in the presidential race .
No local official is as closely associated with repressive immigration practices as Joe Arpaio , Maricopa County 's sheriff from 1993 to 2017 .
Arpaio ran a detention facility known as Tent City that he himself called a `` concentration camp , '' and he engaged in racial profiling in defiance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ousted in November 2016 by Democrat Paul Penzone , who subsequently closed Tent City , and Arpaio fell short in his attempted comeback this year , narrowly losing to Jerry Sheridan in the Republican primary .
But Sheridan is Arpaio 's former lieutenant , and could carry on Arpaio 's legacy if he beats Penzone in November .
Writing in the Political Report , Jerry Iannelli stresses that Penzone has disappointed immigrants ' rights activists over his first term .
But he also reports that Republican nominee Sheridan is directly implicated in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he has vowed to reopen Tent City .
Bob Gualtieri has been an enthusiastic champion of ICE , both through his powers as the sheriff of Pinellas County and through his leadership role in the state 's Sheriffs Association .
He helped design a new arrangement for Florida sheriffs to circumvent legal concerns and keep detaining people when ICE requests it ; and he has contracted his office into ICE 's 287 ( g ) program .
Gualtieri , a Republican , faces Democratic challenger Eliseo Santana who has vowed to terminate both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sheriff and to reject forms of discretionary assistance with the agency .
`` I will not have my agents be the agents of destroying families in our community , '' Santana told me in a Q & A last week .
`` These types of agreements are hurting our community , are destroying the family , and it 's anti-American . ''
In January 2017 , as President Trump entered the White House and took aim at `` sanctuary cities , '' Miami-Dade County 's Republican Mayor Carlos Giménez announced a major policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immigrants : The county , Florida 's most populous , would honor ICE detainers by holding people in jail beyond their scheduled release if federal agents request it .
( Local governments typically leave the discretion on this matter to sheriffs , but Miami-Dade is the only jurisdiction in the state that does not have one . )
The candidates vying to replace him , Republican Esteban Bovo and Democrat Daniella Levine Cava , have long been on opposite sides of this change .
Both were county commissioners in February 2017 when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hundreds of residents demanding a return to sanctuary policies .
Bovo voted to approve the order , and Cava opposed it .
Cava is now running on curtailing cooperation with ICE , including fighting a new state law that mandates that local law enforcement assist the federal agency .
`` I think it 's overreach and a pre-emption on how we take care of our people , '' Cava said at a summer forum .
Cobb and Gwinnett , two counties in the Atlanta suburbs that have a combined population of over 1.5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Longtime Republican bastions with harsh policies toward immigrants , they voted Democratic in the 2016 presidential election for the first time since 1976 , a change fueled in part by a significant rise in the local Latinx population .
Now these counties ' legacy of tightly helping ICE will be tested , Timothy Pratt wrote in the Political Report in September .
The Republican sheriffs of Cobb and Gwinnett have both joined ICE 's 287 ( g ) program .
And in each county , the November election pits a Democrat who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ g ) contracts against a Republican who wants to stay in the program .
But even if the program falls , advocates say , far more policy upheaval will be needed to stop the repression of the region 's immigrant communities .
Jerry McDermott and Patrick McDermott , no relation , are facing off on Nov. 3 .
Jerry , the Republican incumbent , was appointed by the governor two years ago .
Patrick , a Democrat , is the county 's registrar of probates .
The incumbent championed a ballot initiative last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court ruling and authorized sheriffs to honor ICE detainers , which come without a judge 's signature .
He did not respond to a request for comment on how he would partner with ICE if elected to a full term .
By contrast , and as I reported in the Political Report in August , his challenger says sheriffs should not honor ICE requests that a federal judge has not signed , and that he would not enter into new contracts like a 287 ( g ) agreement .
`` These contracts make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the communities … feel safe and secure , '' he said .
Sheriff Mike Bouchard , a Republican in a county that may be poised to reject President Trump in November , has honored ICE 's detainer requests , and as a leader in the Major County Sheriffs of America , he has worked to extend that practice throughout the country .
`` If ICE is coming after someone in the jail , it 's for a criminal charge , '' he told Detroit News in 2017 , downplaying the fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ convicted .
In November , Bouchard faces Democratic challenger Vincent Gregory , a former state senator who told the Political Report that he would break with Bouchard 's policy on detainers .
`` I would NOT honor the request from ICE to hold the prisoners without a Court Order , '' he said in an email .
But Gregory also volunteered that immigration has not been central to conversations he has had during the campaign , and he does not feature the issue on his website .
In 2018 , buoyed by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Colectiva , Action NC , El Pueblo , or Siembra NC , North Carolina saw a wave of wins by sheriff candidates—all Black Democrats—who ran on cutting ties with ICE in five of the state 's most populous counties .
They promptly did just that upon entering office .
This enraged Republicans , who run the state legislature .
Last year , they passed a bill to require that sheriffs collaborate with ICE .
But Democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the legislation , effectively protecting sheriffs ' ability to not do ICE 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest .
If Forest wins , it would likely hand the GOP control of the state government , enabling them to revisit the 2019 bill .
But the state could also swing in the other direction ; a Cooper win may be accompanied by legislative gains for his party , strengthening the new sheriffs ' hand .
This is the only election featured here that has a candidate who wants to scale back collaboration with ICE , and one who wants to ramp it up .
The incumbent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrat who attended a Trump rally in 2016 , honors ICE detainers , and has faced protests from activists .
He could not overcome that record in the Democratic primary , losing to Charmaine McGuffey , a former sheriff 's deputy who is running a reform-minded campaign , as Teresa Mathew reported in the Political Report .
McGuffey told Mathew that she would no longer honor detainers if elected .
Now McGuffey faces Republican Bruce Hoffbauer , a police lieutenant who has said the county should be even more active in partnering with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; he did not respond to a request for comment on how he intends to partner with ICE , though .
( Neil has endorsed Hoffbauer since his primary defeat . )
Hoffbauer is also running on increasing enforcement against what he calls `` street-level crimes '' such as drug offenses , which could increase arrests and jail bookings .
This approach to policing , combined with a goal of helping ICE arrest people held in the local jail , could lead to even more people being funneled into deportation proceedings .
Charleston @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last three presidential elections , but it also has a Republican sheriff , J. Al Cannon , who has made it one of ICE 's closest allies in the state .
Charleston is one of only four South Carolina counties in ICE 's 287 ( g ) program , enabling deputies to facilitate defendants ' transfer into ICE custody .
Cannon also has an agreement to detain people that ICE arrests elsewhere , including during raids , which has drawn protests .
This record is on the line in November .
Cannon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1988 , faces Kristin Graziano , a sheriff 's deputy he put on leave when he learned that she was running against him .
Graziano , a Democrat , told me this week that she would `` immediately '' terminate the 287 ( g ) program .
`` It 's contradictory to what we 're trying to accomplish in Charleston , '' she said , namely `` building our communities back up and building trust . ''
She added that she would not honor ICE detainers , and would `` end completely '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grounds .
Graziano , whose website takes the rare step of laying out her views in both English and Spanish , said she has `` learned '' from `` dialogue '' with advocates from the Latinx community , whom she wants `` sitting at the table making the decisions that affect their lives . ''
In this county of nearly two million residents , Republican Sheriff Bill Waybourn has been a vocal cheerleader for Trumpian immigration politics .
Speaking at a White House event in 2019 , he praised ICE for `` standing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for you and me , '' and defended jailing people who face criminal charges on immigration grounds because otherwise `` these drunks will run over your children and they will run over my children . ''
But Tarrant County has rapidly shifted toward the Democratic Party during the Trump era , and this has made Waybourn vulnerable to Democratic challenger Vance Keyes , a former police officer who says he is running to end the incumbent 's `` fear mongering tactics . ''
The ICE out of Tarrant County coalition has fought Waybourn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ g ) program .
Keyes has vowed to terminate it if he is elected .
Tarrant is by far the most populous Texas county in 287 ( g ) .
There are only two other 287 ( g ) counties that were carried by a Democrat in a federal race in either 2016 or 2018 , a mark of potential competitivenss : Williamson County ( Georgetown ) and Nueces County ( Corpus Christi ) .
In each , the incumbent sheriff is a Republican with a Democratic opponent ; but neither of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their views on immigration and 287 ( g ) , nor do they indicate a position on their website , in a stark contrast with Keyes 's willingness to tackle the issue in Tarrant .
Travis County may elect as its next DA a candidate who describes himself as an `` immigrant rights activist . ''
José Garza , a former public defender and leader of the Workers Defense Project , an organization focused on labor and immigration law , ousted the incumbent DA by an overwhelming margin in the Democratic primary .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Martin Harry , given the county 's large Democratic lean .
Garza told me in June that he wants to avoid immigration consequences for people facing criminal charges or convictions .
`` A simple proposition for me is that no one should face a more severe punishment simply because of their status , '' he said , noting that for some cases it would be a matter of keeping the penalty for a crime under one year , which is a threshold that triggers deportation .
This is not an exhaustive list of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immigration policy ; there are thousands of elected offices that will be decided on Nov. 3 .
I have selected elections in counties that are at least somewhat politically competitive , as well as elections that pit candidates with clear political differences .

This piece originally appeared at The Appeal: Political Report.
In many places that have long helped arrest and detain immigrants, voters will decide the fate of local partnerships with ICE, possibly dealing a series of blows to the agency.
Immigrants' rights activists have been protesting local officials that help ICE arrest and deport immigrants, pressuring them to end those ties, and candidates for these offices have felt the heat.
Most significantly, their work has upended the usually quiet landscape of sheriff's races, helping drive upset losses for longtime incumbents in places such as Minneapolis and Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2018, and already this year—in spring primaries—in Cincinnati and in Athens, Georgia.
Will November's general elections add to that trend?
The GOP's declining fortunes in longtime conservative bastions that have soured on President Trump—who has made hostility to immigration one of his defining rallying cries—have opened the door to political turnover in areas such as Atlanta's northern suburbs. Those areas were long impregnable to Democrats and any candidates running on cutting ties with ICE. Elsewhere, some Democratic-leaning jurisdictions face a reckoning over their ICE-friendly policies.
Below I look at 12 of the most important state and local elections on the ballot this fall that will affect ICE's reach and local immigration policy.
The list covers different sorts of offices. But the lion's share are races for county sheriff. These officials have tremendous discretion on whether and how to respond to or collaborate with ICE. That's because most sheriffs are responsible for running local jails, which hundreds of thousands of people go through every year, often with little to no oversight from other public officials. And these jails are a major funnel into the country's deportation machine, especially when a sheriff is keen on making them so, as The Appeal: Political Report explained in July.
For one, most sheriffs have sole authority over whether their county joins ICE's 287(g) program. This partnership directly implicates sheriffs in harming immigrant communities by authorizing their deputies to act like federal immigration agents. Only 145 counties in the nation have 287(g) contracts at this moment, but that pool includes very populous jurisdictions—and that's precisely where Nov. 3 could upend the local landscape: In counties that cover millions of residents—in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas—candidates are running this fall on a promise of terminating existing 287(g) contracts. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Sheriffs also decide whether they will agree to detain ICE prisoners in exchange for payments; and whether to honor so-called ICE detainers, which are warrantless requests asking sheriffs to keep jailing a person past their scheduled release to give federal agents time to arrest them.
All of these arrangements are on the line on Election Day, and with them the prospect that voters may slash ICE's reach, as they did in 2018, regardless of what happens in the presidential race.
Arizona | Maricopa County (Phoenix) sheriff
No local official is as closely associated with repressive immigration practices as Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County's sheriff from 1993 to 2017. Arpaio ran a detention facility known as Tent City that he himself called a "concentration camp," and he engaged in racial profiling in defiance of a court order. Arpaio was ousted in November 2016 by Democrat Paul Penzone, who subsequently closed Tent City, and Arpaio fell short in his attempted comeback this year, narrowly losing to Jerry Sheridan in the Republican primary. But Sheridan is Arpaio's former lieutenant, and could carry on Arpaio's legacy if he beats Penzone in November. Writing in the Political Report, Jerry Iannelli stresses that Penzone has disappointed immigrants' rights activists over his first term. But he also reports that Republican nominee Sheridan is directly implicated in the racial profiling of the Arpaio years and he has vowed to reopen Tent City.
Florida | Pinellas County (St. Petersburg) sheriff
Bob Gualtieri has been an enthusiastic champion of ICE, both through his powers as the sheriff of Pinellas County and through his leadership role in the state's Sheriffs Association. He helped design a new arrangement for Florida sheriffs to circumvent legal concerns and keep detaining people when ICE requests it; and he has contracted his office into ICE's 287(g) program. Gualtieri, a Republican, faces Democratic challenger Eliseo Santana who has vowed to terminate both of these partnerships if he is elected sheriff and to reject forms of discretionary assistance with the agency. "I will not have my agents be the agents of destroying families in our community," Santana told me in a Q&A last week. "These types of agreements are hurting our community, are destroying the family, and it's anti-American."
Florida | Miami-Dade mayor
In January 2017, as President Trump entered the White House and took aim at "sanctuary cities," Miami-Dade County's Republican Mayor Carlos Giménez announced a major policy reversal that has helped ICE target undocumented immigrants: The county, Florida's most populous, would honor ICE detainers by holding people in jail beyond their scheduled release if federal agents request it. (Local governments typically leave the discretion on this matter to sheriffs, but Miami-Dade is the only jurisdiction in the state that does not have one.)
The candidates vying to replace him, Republican Esteban Bovo and Democrat Daniella Levine Cava, have long been on opposite sides of this change. Both were county commissioners in February 2017 when the commission ratified Giménez's order, despite hundreds of residents demanding a return to sanctuary policies. Bovo voted to approve the order, and Cava opposed it. Cava is now running on curtailing cooperation with ICE, including fighting a new state law that mandates that local law enforcement assist the federal agency. "I think it's overreach and a pre-emption on how we take care of our people," Cava said at a summer forum.
Georgia | Cobb County sheriff and Gwinnett County sheriff
Cobb and Gwinnett, two counties in the Atlanta suburbs that have a combined population of over 1.5 million, have undergone a similar transformation. Longtime Republican bastions with harsh policies toward immigrants, they voted Democratic in the 2016 presidential election for the first time since 1976, a change fueled in part by a significant rise in the local Latinx population. Now these counties' legacy of tightly helping ICE will be tested, Timothy Pratt wrote in the Political Report in September. The Republican sheriffs of Cobb and Gwinnett have both joined ICE's 287(g) program. And in each county, the November election pits a Democrat who has committed to terminating the 287(g) contracts against a Republican who wants to stay in the program. But even if the program falls, advocates say, far more policy upheaval will be needed to stop the repression of the region's immigrant communities.
Massachusetts | Norfolk County sheriff
Jerry McDermott and Patrick McDermott, no relation, are facing off on Nov. 3. Jerry, the Republican incumbent, was appointed by the governor two years ago. Patrick, a Democrat, is the county's registrar of probates. The incumbent championed a ballot initiative last year that would have undone a state court ruling and authorized sheriffs to honor ICE detainers, which come without a judge's signature. He did not respond to a request for comment on how he would partner with ICE if elected to a full term. By contrast, and as I reported in the Political Report in August, his challenger says sheriffs should not honor ICE requests that a federal judge has not signed, and that he would not enter into new contracts like a 287(g) agreement. "These contracts make it harder to ensure that all members of the communities … feel safe and secure," he said.
Michigan | Oakland County sheriff
Sheriff Mike Bouchard, a Republican in a county that may be poised to reject President Trump in November, has honored ICE's detainer requests, and as a leader in the Major County Sheriffs of America, he has worked to extend that practice throughout the country. "If ICE is coming after someone in the jail, it's for a criminal charge," he told Detroit News in 2017, downplaying the fact that most people in jail have not been convicted. In November, Bouchard faces Democratic challenger Vincent Gregory, a former state senator who told the Political Report that he would break with Bouchard's policy on detainers. "I would NOT honor the request from ICE to hold the prisoners without a Court Order," he said in an email. But Gregory also volunteered that immigration has not been central to conversations he has had during the campaign, and he does not feature the issue on his website.
North Carolina | Governor
In 2018, buoyed by the activism of advocacy groups such as Comunidad Colectiva, Action NC, El Pueblo, or Siembra NC, North Carolina saw a wave of wins by sheriff candidates—all Black Democrats—who ran on cutting ties with ICE in five of the state's most populous counties. They promptly did just that upon entering office. This enraged Republicans, who run the state legislature. Last year, they passed a bill to require that sheriffs collaborate with ICE. But Democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the legislation, effectively protecting sheriffs' ability to not do ICE's bidding. Cooper is up for re-election against Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest. If Forest wins, it would likely hand the GOP control of the state government, enabling them to revisit the 2019 bill. But the state could also swing in the other direction; a Cooper win may be accompanied by legislative gains for his party, strengthening the new sheriffs' hand.
Ohio | Hamilton County (Cincinnati) sheriff
This is the only election featured here that has a candidate who wants to scale back collaboration with ICE, and one who wants to ramp it up. The incumbent sheriff, Jim Neil, is a Democrat who attended a Trump rally in 2016, honors ICE detainers, and has faced protests from activists. He could not overcome that record in the Democratic primary, losing to Charmaine McGuffey, a former sheriff's deputy who is running a reform-minded campaign, as Teresa Mathew reported in the Political Report. McGuffey told Mathew that she would no longer honor detainers if elected.
Now McGuffey faces Republican Bruce Hoffbauer, a police lieutenant who has said the county should be even more active in partnering with ICE than it has been under Neil; he did not respond to a request for comment on how he intends to partner with ICE, though. (Neil has endorsed Hoffbauer since his primary defeat.) Hoffbauer is also running on increasing enforcement against what he calls "street-level crimes" such as drug offenses, which could increase arrests and jail bookings. This approach to policing, combined with a goal of helping ICE arrest people held in the local jail, could lead to even more people being funneled into deportation proceedings.
South Carolina | Charleston County sheriff
Charleston County may have voted for Democrats in the last three presidential elections, but it also has a Republican sheriff, J. Al Cannon, who has made it one of ICE's closest allies in the state. Charleston is one of only four South Carolina counties in ICE's 287(g) program, enabling deputies to facilitate defendants' transfer into ICE custody. Cannon also has an agreement to detain people that ICE arrests elsewhere, including during raids, which has drawn protests. This record is on the line in November. Cannon, who has been in power since 1988, faces Kristin Graziano, a sheriff's deputy he put on leave when he learned that she was running against him.
Graziano, a Democrat, told me this week that she would "immediately" terminate the 287(g) program. "It's contradictory to what we're trying to accomplish in Charleston," she said, namely "building our communities back up and building trust." She added that she would not honor ICE detainers, and would "end completely" agreements that involve detaining people on non-criminal grounds. Graziano, whose website takes the rare step of laying out her views in both English and Spanish, said she has "learned" from "dialogue" with advocates from the Latinx community, whom she wants "sitting at the table making the decisions that affect their lives."
Texas | Tarrant County (Fort Worth) sheriff
In this county of nearly two million residents, Republican Sheriff Bill Waybourn has been a vocal cheerleader for Trumpian immigration politics. Speaking at a White House event in 2019, he praised ICE for "standing on the wall between good and evil for you and me," and defended jailing people who face criminal charges on immigration grounds because otherwise "these drunks will run over your children and they will run over my children." But Tarrant County has rapidly shifted toward the Democratic Party during the Trump era, and this has made Waybourn vulnerable to Democratic challenger Vance Keyes, a former police officer who says he is running to end the incumbent's "fear mongering tactics." The ICE out of Tarrant County coalition has fought Waybourn's participation in ICE's 287(g) program. Keyes has vowed to terminate it if he is elected.
Tarrant is by far the most populous Texas county in 287(g). There are only two other 287(g) counties that were carried by a Democrat in a federal race in either 2016 or 2018, a mark of potential competitivenss: Williamson County (Georgetown) and Nueces County (Corpus Christi). In each, the incumbent sheriff is a Republican with a Democratic opponent; but neither of the challengers answered my requests for comment on their views on immigration and 287(g), nor do they indicate a position on their website, in a stark contrast with Keyes's willingness to tackle the issue in Tarrant.
Texas | Travis County (Austin) district attorney
Travis County may elect as its next DA a candidate who describes himself as an "immigrant rights activist." José Garza, a former public defender and leader of the Workers Defense Project, an organization focused on labor and immigration law, ousted the incumbent DA by an overwhelming margin in the Democratic primary. He is now favored against Republican candidate Martin Harry, given the county's large Democratic lean. Garza told me in June that he wants to avoid immigration consequences for people facing criminal charges or convictions. "A simple proposition for me is that no one should face a more severe punishment simply because of their status," he said, noting that for some cases it would be a matter of keeping the penalty for a crime under one year, which is a threshold that triggers deportation.
—
This is not an exhaustive list of every local election whose result will shape immigration policy; there are thousands of elected offices that will be decided on Nov. 3. I have selected elections in counties that are at least somewhat politically competitive, as well as elections that pit candidates with clear political differences.


alternet--2020-10-12--Sen. Mike Lee wages 'strange crusade' against Mormon-owned Utah media outlets for not being right-wi

Sen. Mike Lee wages 'strange crusade' against Mormon-owned Utah media outlets for not being right-wing enough

It 's always amusing when far-right Republicans slam conservative media outlets for not being right-wing enough .
One such Republican is Utah Sen. Mike Lee , who has been highly critical of two right-of-center media outlets in his state : the Deseret News and Salt Lake City 's KSL Radio/KSL-TV — which is owned by Bonneville International , the broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints .
Lee believes that the Deseret News ( also owned by Mormons ) and KSL are insufficiently right-wing , and talk radio right-winger Glenn Beck is joining him .
Beck @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ever read this paper ?
@ SenMikeLee is right .
How can you trust a thing @ DeseretNews writes if they can get this simple principle so wrong ?
History TEACHES Pure Democracy leads to slavery and suffering . ''
McKay Coppins , a staff writer for The Atlantic , has devoted a Twitter thread to Lee and Beck 's ludicrous claims that Mormon-owned media outlets in deeply Republican Utah are too liberal .
Coppins explains , `` So , Mike Lee has been waging a FB/Twitter crusade lately against the Utah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ KSL , Deseret News ) .
The individual critiques are nitpicky , but basically he seems frustrated that the outlets are n't right-wing enough .
Now Glenn Beck has joined the cause . ''
Coppins goes on to say , `` This crusade is strange , in part , because neither outlet is remotely liberal .
But it 's classic Trumpian ref-working .
As I reported earlier this year , Trump and his allies planned to take the fight to local media in 2020… .
That seems to be happening in Utah .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump `` continues to underperform with '' Mormon voters in Utah .
Nonetheless , Utah is a deep red state that Trump is almost certain to win in the 2020 presidential election .
While polls are showing former Vice President Joe Biden to be competitive in some light red states — including Texas and Georgia — a Y2 Analytics poll released on October 5 found Trump ahead by 10 % in Utah .
And on September 17 , an RMG Research poll showed Trump with an 18 % lead in that state .

It's always amusing when far-right Republicans slam conservative media outlets for not being right-wing enough. One such Republican is Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who has been highly critical of two right-of-center media outlets in his state: the Deseret News and Salt Lake City's KSL Radio/KSL-TV — which is owned by Bonneville International, the broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Lee believes that the Deseret News (also owned by Mormons) and KSL are insufficiently right-wing, and talk radio right-winger Glenn Beck is joining him.
Beck tweeted, "Utahans: why would you ever read this paper? @SenMikeLee is right. How can you trust a thing @DeseretNews writes if they can get this simple principle so wrong? History TEACHES Pure Democracy leads to slavery and suffering."
McKay Coppins, a staff writer for The Atlantic, has devoted a Twitter thread to Lee and Beck's ludicrous claims that Mormon-owned media outlets in deeply Republican Utah are too liberal.
Coppins explains, "So, Mike Lee has been waging a FB/Twitter crusade lately against the Utah media outlets owned by his church (KSL, Deseret News). The individual critiques are nitpicky, but basically he seems frustrated that the outlets aren't right-wing enough. Now Glenn Beck has joined the cause."
Coppins goes on to say, "This crusade is strange, in part, because neither outlet is remotely liberal. But it's classic Trumpian ref-working. As I reported earlier this year, Trump and his allies planned to take the fight to local media in 2020…. That seems to be happening in Utah."
Coppins also notes that President Donald Trump "continues to underperform with" Mormon voters in Utah. Nonetheless, Utah is a deep red state that Trump is almost certain to win in the 2020 presidential election. While polls are showing former Vice President Joe Biden to be competitive in some light red states — including Texas and Georgia — a Y2 Analytics poll released on October 5 found Trump ahead by 10% in Utah. And on September 17, an RMG Research poll showed Trump with an 18% lead in that state.


alternet--2020-10-12--Watch: Protesters block entrance of Senate building as first Barrett confirmation hearing begins

Dozens of demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Hart Senate Office Building Monday morning to protest the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee 's decision to hold the first confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump 's right-wing Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett with less than a month to go before the pivotal November election .
Chanting `` Whose court ?
Our court ! ''
and `` Let the people decide , '' the protesters gathered minutes before Barrett 's first confirmation hearing ( which can be viewed live below ) was set to kick off despite opposition to the proceedings from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizations , and a majority of Americans .
`` If Senate leadership forces a nominee before the next Congress and president are installed , it would deprive the people of their voice and further destabilize a nation already gripped by crisis , '' Ana Maria Archila , co-executive director of advocacy group CPD Action , said in a statement ahead of the demonstration .
`` We 're mobilizing all those who believe in freedom , equality , and justice to engage in direct action to put pressure on both key Senate Republicans as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confirmation is delayed , '' said Archila .

Dozens of demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Hart Senate Office Building Monday morning to protest the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee's decision to hold the first confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump's right-wing Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett with less than a month to go before the pivotal November election.
Chanting "Whose court? Our court!" and "Let the people decide," the protesters gathered minutes before Barrett's first confirmation hearing (which can be viewed live below) was set to kick off despite opposition to the proceedings from thousands of legal experts, civil rights organizations, and a majority of Americans.
"If Senate leadership forces a nominee before the next Congress and president are installed, it would deprive the people of their voice and further destabilize a nation already gripped by crisis," Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of advocacy group CPD Action, said in a statement ahead of the demonstration.
"We're mobilizing all those who believe in freedom, equality, and justice to engage in direct action to put pressure on both key Senate Republicans as well as Democrats to ensure that this confirmation is delayed," said Archila.
Watch the Barrett hearing:
WATCH LIVE: Judge Amy Coney Barrett Supreme Court confirmation hearings - Day 1 youtu.be


alternet--2020-10-13--'McConnell blasted for ‘laughing like Confederate Voldemort’ about coronavirus during Kentucky debat

'McConnell blasted for ‘laughing like Confederate Voldemort’ about coronavirus during Kentucky debate

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was blasted following Monday 's night 's U.S. Senate debate in Kentucky .
McConnell began @ @ @ @ @ failure to pass additional COVID-19 stimulus was criticized by Democrat Amy McGrath .
`` The @ @ @ @ @ May and the Senate went on vacation , '' McGrath noted .
`` You just @ @ @ @ @ '' she continued , as McConnell began laughing .
Throughout the debate , McConnell reportedly @ @ @ @ @ .
Here 's some of what people were saying about McConnell 's laughter :

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was blasted following Monday's night's U.S. Senate debate in Kentucky.
McConnell began laughing when the Senate's failure to pass additional COVID-19 stimulus was criticized by Democrat Amy McGrath.
"The House passed a bill in May and the Senate went on vacation," McGrath noted.
"You just don't do that," she continued, as McConnell began laughing.
Throughout the debate, McConnell reportedly laughed off coronavirus questions repeatedly.
Here's some of what people were saying about McConnell's laughter:


alternet--2020-10-13--'It just keeps getting worse': Trump defectors and 2016 nonvoters help cement Biden's growing lead

The major question for Democrats following 2016 was whether the party should focus on trying to win over some of the white voters who turned their backs on the party to vote for Donald Trump , or whether turning out the cycle 's non-voters and and driving up numbers among the party 's base was the path to taking back the White House in 2020 .
The Biden campaign appears to be succeeding in doing a bit of both , and to very good effect .
Ruth Mierzwa , a Pennsylvania business owner , told The Washington Post that she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in 2016 , so she settled on neither and voted third-party .
Not this time around .
`` Trump is just so scary at this point that I do n't think I can waste my vote on a third party , '' she said .
`` It just keeps getting worse .
From his pick for the Supreme Court to his racist comments to his degrading anyone who does n't agree with him to his handling of the virus .
I can go on and on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poll Sunday that put Biden up 12 points over Trump , and it 's no outlier .
National polling aggregates at the The New York Times , FiveThirtyEight , and even RealClearPolitics have Biden leading by 10 points .
Another outlet that gave Biden a 10-point advantage last week was Pew Research Center , which also found that nearly half of people who voted third party in 2016 now lean or support Biden at 49 % while 26 % say they plan to vote for Trump .
The outfit also found Biden leading @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2016 , 54-38 % .
As for independents , the Post poll found Biden winning those voters by 12 points .
That 's a 16-point turnaround from the exit polling in 2016 , when Trump won the bloc by four points .
Those takeaways from the Post and Pew surveys were backed up by battleground state polling released Monday from the New York Times and Siena College that found Biden ahead in Michigan by eight points , 48-40 % , and in Wisconsin by 10 points , 51-41 % .
Trump , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but significant defections among white and independent voters , while facing a groundswell of opposition from those who voted for a minor-party candidate or did n't vote at all in 2016 . ''
Among likely voters in Michigan , Biden is losing whites by just one point , 44-45 % , whereas Trump won the demographic by 21 points in the exits .
And Biden is ruining Trump among independents , 48-31 % , after Trump won the group by 16 points in 2016—a net 33-point turnaround .
Among likely voters in Wisconsin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by eight points , 51-43 % , after Trump won them by 11 points in 2016 .
Biden is also trouncing Trump among independents by 18 points , 52-34 % , after Trump won the group by 10 points in 2016 .
Overall , after polling 5,556 respondents in Michigan , Pennsylvania , Wisconsin , Minnesota , Iowa , and Ohio , the Times has found those voters backed Trump by 2.6 points in 2016—matching his actual 2.6-point margin of victory across the six states that year .
But now , they support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sample of 5,556 voters favoring Biden overall by six points .
According to the Times , three demographic groups have contributed to that change in fortunes : Trump defectors ( or vote switchers ) , third-party flips , and 2016 nonvoters .
While all three groups make up a relatively modest slice of voters , they have all moved heavily in the direction of Biden in these six Northern battleground states .

The major question for Democrats following 2016 was whether the party should focus on trying to win over some of the white voters who turned their backs on the party to vote for Donald Trump, or whether turning out the cycle's non-voters and and driving up numbers among the party's base was the path to taking back the White House in 2020. The Biden campaign appears to be succeeding in doing a bit of both, and to very good effect.
Ruth Mierzwa, a Pennsylvania business owner, told The Washington Post that she simply couldn't bring herself to vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in 2016, so she settled on neither and voted third-party. Not this time around.
"Trump is just so scary at this point that I don't think I can waste my vote on a third party," she said. "It just keeps getting worse. From his pick for the Supreme Court to his racist comments to his degrading anyone who doesn't agree with him to his handling of the virus. I can go on and on."
The Post released a national poll Sunday that put Biden up 12 points over Trump, and it's no outlier. National polling aggregates at the The New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, and even RealClearPolitics have Biden leading by 10 points.
Another outlet that gave Biden a 10-point advantage last week was Pew Research Center, which also found that nearly half of people who voted third party in 2016 now lean or support Biden at 49% while 26% say they plan to vote for Trump. The outfit also found Biden leading solidly among voters who didn't vote in 2016, 54-38%.
2016 THIRD-PARTY VOTERS 2016 NONVOTERS BIDEN 49% 54% TRUMP 26% 38%
PEW RESEARCH 2020 NATIONAL POLLING
As for independents, the Post poll found Biden winning those voters by 12 points. That's a 16-point turnaround from the exit polling in 2016, when Trump won the bloc by four points.
Those takeaways from the Post and Pew surveys were backed up by battleground state polling released Monday from the New York Times and Siena College that found Biden ahead in Michigan by eight points, 48-40%, and in Wisconsin by 10 points, 51-41%.
Trump, writes the Times, "faces modest but significant defections among white and independent voters, while facing a groundswell of opposition from those who voted for a minor-party candidate or didn't vote at all in 2016."
Among likely voters in Michigan, Biden is losing whites by just one point, 44-45%, whereas Trump won the demographic by 21 points in the exits. And Biden is ruining Trump among independents, 48-31%, after Trump won the group by 16 points in 2016—a net 33-point turnaround.
Among likely voters in Wisconsin, the Times shows Biden winning whites by eight points, 51-43%, after Trump won them by 11 points in 2016. Biden is also trouncing Trump among independents by 18 points, 52-34%, after Trump won the group by 10 points in 2016.
Overall, after polling 5,556 respondents in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Ohio, the Times has found those voters backed Trump by 2.6 points in 2016—matching his actual 2.6-point margin of victory across the six states that year. But now, they support Biden across all six states, with the sample of 5,556 voters favoring Biden overall by six points. According to the Times, three demographic groups have contributed to that change in fortunes: Trump defectors (or vote switchers), third-party flips, and 2016 nonvoters. While all three groups make up a relatively modest slice of voters, they have all moved heavily in the direction of Biden in these six Northern battleground states.


alternet--2020-10-13--Trump-appointed judge smacks down campaign's efforts to suppress the vote in Pennsylvania

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Convention 's efforts to steal the election in Pennsylvania were handed a setback on Saturday by a Trump-appointed judge .
The Trump campaign and RNC were trying to block Pennsylvania from having ballot drop boxes , force signature matches between voter registration records and ballots , and pave the way for bringing in an army of nonresident `` poll watchers '' to intimidate voters .
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Ranjan was n't having it .
`` While Plaintiffs may not need to prove actual voter fraud , they must at least prove that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They have n't met that burden .
At most , they have pieced together a sequence of uncertain assumptions , '' he wrote in a 138-page opinion .
Fabulously , Ranjan cited Justice Brett Kavanaugh in his decision , so if the Trump campaign and RNC appeal this up to the Supreme Court , Kavanaugh will have to contend with his past self .
Not that that 's usually a problem for partisan Republicans .
Pennsylvania is n't the only state where Republicans have had a court loss on efforts to rig the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this case requires the Court to separate fact from fiction , '' U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen wrote in dismissing a Republican challenge to mail voting in Montana .
`` Central to some of the Plaintiffs ' claims is the contention that the upcoming election , both nationally and in Montana , will fall prey to widespread voter fraud .
The evidence suggests , however , that this allegation , specifically in Montana , is a fiction . ''
That September 30 decision followed another federal district judge dismissing a lawsuit against Nevada @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voter to be sent a mail ballot .
State by state , it 's clear that Republicans just want to make it harder to vote during a pandemic .
Of course the Trump Supreme Court may yet hand Republicans the means to suppress votes .
But district judges have had some very strong opinions—to overturn all of them , the court 's conservatives will have to drop any act of being above partisanship , in ways that will make it easier for Democrats to make the case for reforming or expanding the court @ @ @ @

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Convention's efforts to steal the election in Pennsylvania were handed a setback on Saturday by a Trump-appointed judge. The Trump campaign and RNC were trying to block Pennsylvania from having ballot drop boxes, force signature matches between voter registration records and ballots, and pave the way for bringing in an army of nonresident "poll watchers" to intimidate voters.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Ranjan wasn't having it. "While Plaintiffs may not need to prove actual voter fraud, they must at least prove that such fraud is 'certainly impending.' They haven't met that burden. At most, they have pieced together a sequence of uncertain assumptions," he wrote in a 138-page opinion.
Fabulously, Ranjan cited Justice Brett Kavanaugh in his decision, so if the Trump campaign and RNC appeal this up to the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh will have to contend with his past self. Not that that's usually a problem for partisan Republicans.
Pennsylvania isn't the only state where Republicans have had a court loss on efforts to rig the elections.
"In many respects, this case requires the Court to separate fact from fiction," U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen wrote in dismissing a Republican challenge to mail voting in Montana. "Central to some of the Plaintiffs' claims is the contention that the upcoming election, both nationally and in Montana, will fall prey to widespread voter fraud. The evidence suggests, however, that this allegation, specifically in Montana, is a fiction."
That September 30 decision followed another federal district judge dismissing a lawsuit against Nevada's new law calling for every registered voter to be sent a mail ballot.
State by state, it's clear that Republicans just want to make it harder to vote during a pandemic.
Of course the Trump Supreme Court may yet hand Republicans the means to suppress votes. But district judges have had some very strong opinions—to overturn all of them, the court's conservatives will have to drop any act of being above partisanship, in ways that will make it easier for Democrats to make the case for reforming or expanding the court in the future.


alternet--2020-10-13--'Partisan charade': Senate GOP accused of 'craven power grab' as Coney Barrett confirmation hearings

'Partisan charade': Senate GOP accused of 'craven power grab' as Coney Barrett confirmation hearings kick off

Senate Republicans were accused Monday of leading a `` partisan charade '' as the GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee began confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett—a Supreme Court nominee described as a threat to reproductive rights and healthcare access .
`` Two things are clear , '' said NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue said in a statement .
`` Barrett poses a clear and present danger to our fundamental rights and this hearing is part of an illegitimate and craven power grab that could affect our courts for a long time . ''
If confirmed for the lifetime seat , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lean the court further to the right , giving it a 6-3 conservative majority .
Republicans have pushed through the nomination at lightning speed even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage , suffering Americans see no aid from another comprehensive Covid-19 relief package , and voters have begun to cast ballots ahead of Election Day .
The rushed confirmation process , as well as the record of President Donald Trump 's rightwing nominee , has elicited rebuke from Democrats , thousands of lawyers , and progressive groups like NARAL Pro-Choice America .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the demand that senators not hold any hearing for a Supreme Court justice nominee until after the next administration begins .
`` Plowing ahead with the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice this close to Election Day is an attack on our democracy that we wo n't forget , '' said Hogue , calling it `` disgraceful for Senate Republicans to continue this partisan charade to maintain control no matter the results of November 's election , all while refusing to help people struggling in the midst of the still-raging pandemic . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Inauguration Day , period , '' she said .
The reproductive rights group has previously warned that Barrett 's `` positions show she is a clear and present threat to reproductive freedom and the promise of Roe '' —a warning in line with that from Center for Reproductive Rights president and CEO Nancy Northup , who 's called Barrett 's `` record in opposition to reproductive rights ... clear and alarming . ''
Beyond threats to abortion access , Barrett 's critics say her record shows other key issues hang in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fate of the Affordable Care Act ( ACA ) .
That issue was noted by Sen. Cory Booker ( D-N.J. ) in his opening remarks at the confirmation hearing .
`` Instead of doing anything to help people who are struggling right now , we are here . ''
`` I am really glad that my colleagues who contracted Covid-19 at the Rose Garden super-spreader event had access to the care you and your families needed , '' said Booker , contrasting such access with that available to `` the people who will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the desks and empty the garbage , that will vacuum the floor ... like people all over our country who are working today '' and `` can not show up to work sick . ''
`` Donald Trump and most of my Senate Republican colleagues know the truth—they will not be able to get away with this after the American people have spoken in this election , '' said Booker .
He asserted of the rushed confirmation process for Barrett : `` Nothing about this is normal . ''
Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what she framed as a broad scope of rights that would be under further attack should Barrett be confirmed .
`` We know exactly what Trump 's Supreme Court nominee , Amy Coney Barrett , is being picked to do : complete a decades-long assault on our judiciary by billionaires , giant corporations , and rightwing extremists to tilt the courts in their favor and against everyone else , '' Warren wrote at an op-ed published Monday at Rolling Stone .
`` The list of what is at stake if Republicans get their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is truly staggering . ''
Barrett 's confirmation hearings are set to last through Thursday .

Senate Republicans were accused Monday of leading a "partisan charade" as the GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee began confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett—a Supreme Court nominee described as a threat to reproductive rights and healthcare access.
"Two things are clear," said NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue said in a statement. "Barrett poses a clear and present danger to our fundamental rights and this hearing is part of an illegitimate and craven power grab that could affect our courts for a long time."
If confirmed for the lifetime seat, Barrett, who is 48, would lean the court further to the right, giving it a 6-3 conservative majority.
Republicans have pushed through the nomination at lightning speed even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage, suffering Americans see no aid from another comprehensive Covid-19 relief package, and voters have begun to cast ballots ahead of Election Day.
The rushed confirmation process, as well as the record of President Donald Trump's rightwing nominee, has elicited rebuke from Democrats, thousands of lawyers, and progressive groups like NARAL Pro-Choice America.
In her statement Monday, Hogue renewed the demand that senators not hold any hearing for a Supreme Court justice nominee until after the next administration begins.
"Plowing ahead with the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice this close to Election Day is an attack on our democracy that we won't forget," said Hogue, calling it "disgraceful for Senate Republicans to continue this partisan charade to maintain control no matter the results of November's election, all while refusing to help people struggling in the midst of the still-raging pandemic."
"No confirmation should be considered until after Inauguration Day, period," she said.
The reproductive rights group has previously warned that Barrett's "positions show she is a clear and present threat to reproductive freedom and the promise of Roe"—a warning in line with that from Center for Reproductive Rights president and CEO Nancy Northup, who's called Barrett's "record in opposition to reproductive rights... clear and alarming."
Beyond threats to abortion access, Barrett's critics say her record shows other key issues hang in the balance as well, such as the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
That issue was noted by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in his opening remarks at the confirmation hearing. "Instead of doing anything to help people who are struggling right now, we are here."
"I am really glad that my colleagues who contracted Covid-19 at the Rose Garden super-spreader event had access to the care you and your families needed," said Booker, contrasting such access with that available to "the people who will come through here today to wipe down the desks and empty the garbage, that will vacuum the floor... like people all over our country who are working today" and "cannot show up to work sick."
"Donald Trump and most of my Senate Republican colleagues know the truth—they will not be able to get away with this after the American people have spoken in this election," said Booker. He asserted of the rushed confirmation process for Barrett: "Nothing about this is normal."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also drew attention to what she framed as a broad scope of rights that would be under further attack should Barrett be confirmed.
"We know exactly what Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, is being picked to do: complete a decades-long assault on our judiciary by billionaires, giant corporations, and rightwing extremists to tilt the courts in their favor and against everyone else," Warren wrote at an op-ed published Monday at Rolling Stone.
"The list of what is at stake if Republicans get their way," warned Warren, "is truly staggering."
Barrett's confirmation hearings are set to last through Thursday.