The litigation ramped up today in Nevada with an emergency appeal to the state Supreme Court to order Clark County to stop processing mail ballots. The issue is the use of an automatic signature verification machine and “duplication” of mail ballots thehill.com/opinion/judici…
USPS just told the federal court in DC that it will not meet the court order to sweep mail processing facilities for delayed election ballots in parts of Georgia, Pennsylvania, New England, South Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, Alabama and Wyoming, Texas, and Michigan.
...The judge in that case is U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan who has been criticized for bias against the Trump Administration and Michael Flynn. That could be an explosive combination in an election dispute. jonathanturley.org/2020/06/28/mak…
There are more voting machine problems in Georgia and new orders to keep the polls open.
The machines in Spaulding county were loaded wrong. That means that those votes will be provisional and not counted today in all likelihood.
A hearing is now set for tomorrow on the "curing" of 49 ballots that were amended in the suburban Philadelphia county. This could be significant not in terms of the number of ballots but the issue of such amending of ballots.
It is notable that some of the serious challenges have been brought in the states that are shaping up as potentially determinative: Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Those are states where substantial changes have been made to preexisting electoral standards.
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Breaking tonight: The Hunter Biden laptop was reportedly part of a money laundering investigation. foxnews.com/politics/lapto… That would seem to support that this was Biden's laptop and the emails were viewed as likely authentic. jonathanturley.org/2020/10/20/the…
...It would also explain why the Biden camp has not claimed that the laptop and emails were fabricated. If they are authentic, there are troubling emails referring to meetings with Joe Biden and even a reference to a possible future payment to the former Vice President.
...While virtually every news outlet has refused to investigate these emails, they were apparently viewed sufficiently important to be seized as part of a criminal investigation. That does not mean that there is a proven crime, but that there is ample reason for media scrutiny.
Sen. Coons again hit Barrett on her willingness to revisit precedent. It is an incomprehensible position and Barrett hit Coons effectively on cases like Lawrence. jonathanturley.org/2020/10/14/bar…
...Coons said those were "grievously wrong cases." He then said she should look at precedent through a "Ginsburg lens" rather than a Scalia lens." That sounds not as much as a defense of precedence but precedence that he or Justice Ginsburg would like to preserve.
...The standard of only overturning "grievously wrong cases" is code for overturning cases like Heller but promising not to touch other cases like Roe.
Durbin just expressed confusion on "where does this notion that you would violate your oath come from?" He then pulled out another giant photo and possible victims of her voting against the ACA. jonathanturley.org/2020/10/13/the…
...The clear message is that her expected vote in the case is the key issue for confirmation. It is entirely inappropriate for Senators like Booker to say that they will vote against her on the basis of her expected vote in the case -- absent an assurance of a contrary vote.
Durbin just set up a question that resulted in one of the best moments for Barrett. Asked about what she felt in watching the George Floyd video, Barrett said it had a huge impact on her as the mother to two black children. She said that she wept with her children over the video.
Feinstein noted that Ginsburg stated that the Constitution supports abortion in her hearing. That is a good set up for the question since it negates the impact of the "Ginsburg Rule." However, Barrett pivoted to cite Kagan instead.jonathanturley.org/2020/10/13/the…
...Kagan refused to answer the same question saying that she would not give “a thumbs up or thumbs down” on abortion questions. The Democrats supported her in refusing to answer the questions.
Sen. Leahy is actually questioning Barrett on whether she knows the cost of insulin and then added "I would not expect you to." Precisely. She is not the nominee for the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Sen. Feinstein's opening sounds more like a legislative markup hearing for the ACA. She is detailing the benefits under the ACA to a nominee who is not supposed to legislate from the bench. The best way to emphasize apolitical judging is not to try to sell a nominee on a policy.
...How Barrett feels about the ACA is not relevant to how she must review the constitutionality of the statute. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes made this clear when he wrote: "I always say, as you know, that if my fellow citizens want to go to Hell I will help them. It’s my job."
...Now Sen. Leahy is explaining the value of the ACA to Barrett. Is this the type of argument that Democratic members want to sway jurists? If so, jurists would become super legislators. Moreover, there is no reason to believe that Barrett would vote against severance on the ACA.
This hearing already has a different feel from Barrett's appellate confirmation. That hearing likely makes the Democratic members a bit more cautious. Barrett proved to be the Rocky Balboa of nominees. The members pummeled her with everything that they had sort of a chair...
...she did not falter throughout the assault. They are less likely to get within her reach with another faith-based attack. Indeed, the talking points seem directed more at the election than the nomination by emphasizing the ACA case. That case however has been misrepresented.
...The ACA is not likely to be struck down entirely. Roberts and Kavanaugh could well vote with the more liberal members on the issue of severing the individual mandate provision from the rest of the Act. Opposing a nominee due to her expected vote on a pending case is wrong...