| Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Less than a third of U.S. voters plan to cast their ballots in person on Election Day Posted: 21 Oct 2020 07:22 AM PDT  Just 31 percent of respondents said they plan to vote in person on Nov. 3, while 64 percent planned to vote by mail or cast their ballots in early voting.
|
| Health secretary promises coronavirus vaccine before 2021 Posted: 21 Oct 2020 02:52 PM PDT  The first doses of a coronavirus vaccine could be available before the end of the year, with mass vaccination of Americans taking place throughout the spring, according to public health officials at CDC headquarters in Atlanta.
|
| 'Mama, they just shot us for nothing': Waukegan police officer fatally shoots Black teen, injures woman Posted: 22 Oct 2020 01:21 PM PDT  People are protesting in Waukegan, Illinois, after a police officer fatally shot 19-year-old Marcellis Stinnette on Tuesday.
|
| Trinidad says idle Venezuela oil vessel not a threat. Environmentalists are not convinced. Posted: 22 Oct 2020 02:51 PM PDT  The government of Trinidad and Tobago said Thursday that a floating oil-storage vessel with nearly 55 million gallons of Venezuelan crude oil floating off its coast is not taking on water and shows no sign of capsizing and creating an environmental disaster off the coast of South America.
|
| Bernie Sanders for Labor secretary? He's reportedly interested. Posted: 22 Oct 2020 02:42 PM PDT  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reportedly has an "interest" in becoming Joe Biden's Labor secretary, were the Democrat to be elected president, Politico reports. Though Sanders shook off the suggestion when asked about it on Wednesday, "one person close to the Vermont senator" reportedly told Politico that "I can confirm he's trying to figure out how to land that role or something like it. He, personally, does have an interest in it."On Thursday, Sanders said he was planning to announce his own 100 day agenda, claiming that the rival proposal will "speak to the need to begin the process of moving toward Medicare For All," as well as raising the minimum wage, instituting a "massive infrastructure program," and making it easier for workers to join unions. Sanders then asked rhetorically if he would additionally back future primary challenges against elected Democrats who don't move toward more progressive policies, answering his own question by saying, "you're d--n right I am."Biden's team has reportedly been considering Republicans for some cabinet positions. Nevertheless, former Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir told Politico, "It would be great to have a unity government that takes into account that progressives are a pretty healthy portion of the electorate."More stories from theweek.com Men, this should be so easy A painful postpartum injury is plaguing America's moms — but nobody really talks about it Trump doubles down on the jerk vote
|
| Christian singer to host evangelical ‘worship protest’ on Washington DC’s National Mall with 15,000 expected to attend Posted: 22 Oct 2020 02:06 PM PDT  The event scheduled this weekend will not require attendees to wear masks or social distance
|
| Ghislaine Maxwell Deposition, Discussing Sex Life and Jeffrey Epstein, Ordered Released by Thursday at 9 a.m. Posted: 21 Oct 2020 03:04 AM PDT  Transcripts of interviews conducted with alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell that referenced her former boyfriend, the dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and contain intimate details about her sex life, should be made public no later than 9 a.m. ET Thursday, a New York judge ordered Tuesday.The controversial transcripts, long sought-after by some of Epstein's victims and the media, are expected to shine an unprecedented light on Maxwell and Epstein's life together and come from two days of depositions in 2016 for a since-settled libel case filed against Maxwell by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Maxwell's legal team has argued the deposition contains "intimate" information about her sex life and other personal matters. Federal prosecutors say they believe Maxwell may have perjured herself during the testimony.The transcripts run to more than 400 pages.Tuesday's order by District Judge Loretta Preska marks what appears to be a final and resounding defeat to Maxwell's persistent attempts to keep the deposition secret. On Monday, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that Preska properly decided that the public had a right to access documents from legal proceedings and that transcripts should be unsealed because arguments by Maxwell's lawyers were meritless.Her lawyers have argued that the unsealing of the deposition could interfere with Maxwell getting a fair trial next year; Preska has firmly come down on the side of those seeking its unsealing. Preska on Tuesday gave Maxwell's team an opportunity to make "minimal redactions" to block personally identifiable information that would reveal the names of non-parties or their families, but directed "the material previously ordered unsealed shall be posted on the docket no later than 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 22, 2020." Before Maxwell pleaded not guilty to charges of aiding Epstein's sexual abuse and committing perjury this year, she was sued by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre for defamation in 2015, after Maxwell denied Giuffre's claims of abuse.The civil case was settled in 2017, but Maxwell's April 2016 testimony in that case will now, despite her lawyers' best efforts, be made public.According to court papers previously filed by her lawyers, in the deposition Maxwell made statements about "consensual, and intimate conduct with other adults."Maxwell has been incarcerated since her arrest at a luxury mansion in New Hampshire in early July after dodging police for several months. She is being held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center after she was denied bail in July.If convicted, she could face as much as 35 years in prison.Epstein, 66, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. He died by suicide in August 2019 at a federal jail in Manhattan.In 2008 in Florida, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting and procuring a person under age 18 for prostitution. He spent 13 months in jail, paid settlements to victims, and remained a registered sex offender.—An earlier version of this report inaccurately said the Maxwell deposition would be released at 9 a.m. Thursday. The judge's ruling states it must be made public by that time.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
|
| Gaza nurses protest loss of Israeli permit, layoffs Posted: 21 Oct 2020 01:20 PM PDT  A group of nurses from the Gaza Strip staged a protest in a public square on Wednesday, saying an Israeli travel ban has led the Jerusalem hospital where they worked for many years to fire them. The seven nurses gathered at a public square in Gaza City, wearing lab coats and holding banners that said: "Firing us is a death sentence on our profession and families." "We never expected that Makassed would dismiss us arbitrarily," said Baher Lulu, 53, a critical care nurse who said he joined the hospital 30 years ago, when travel from Gaza to Jerusalem did not require Israeli permission.
|
| Vanessa Guillén, Fort Hood soldier who went missing in April, died 'in the line of duty,' Army says Posted: 20 Oct 2020 07:30 PM PDT  Guillén's family will receive Army benefits, such as allowances, compensation for expenses, life insurance and a funeral with full military honors.
|
| Trump intel chief sounds alarm over Iran intimidating voters with spoofed emails Posted: 21 Oct 2020 06:24 PM PDT  DNI Director John Ratcliffe announced in a surprise press conference that the U.S. government has concluded "that two foreign actors, Iran and Russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections."
|
| Vatican to push for religious freedom as China deal extended Posted: 22 Oct 2020 12:32 AM PDT |
| A 73-year-old in Colorado was fined more than $1,000 after her pet deer gored a woman walking her dog Posted: 22 Oct 2020 01:10 PM PDT  Tynette Housley, 73, was cited on misdemeanor charges of illegal possession of wildlife and illegally feeding wildlife.
|
| US voters are receiving threatening emails from foreign servers warning them to vote Trump 'or we will come after you' Posted: 21 Oct 2020 05:04 AM PDT  The emails purport to be from the Proud Boys group but were sent from foreign servers, the New York Times reported.
|
| Obama slams Trump over 'secret' Chinese bank account Posted: 21 Oct 2020 03:58 PM PDT 
The New York Times, which has obtained Trump's tax records, late Tuesday reported that the documents show the president maintains a previously undisclosed bank account in China, one of only three foreign nations where he holds accounts along with Britain and Ireland.
|
| UN says shipwreck off Libya left 15 migrants dead Posted: 21 Oct 2020 07:59 AM PDT |
| One million Hong Kongers coming to UK could generate £6bn in tax revenues Posted: 22 Oct 2020 11:52 AM PDT  Up to one million Hong Kongers could take up the UK's citizenship offer to escape Chinese repression, netting the UK economy nearly £6 billion in tax revenues, a Home Office assessment has revealed. The influx – as a result of the Government's fast-track immigration lifeboat for Hong Kongers – would see up to 500,000 arrive in the UK in the first year, dwarfing any previous similar scheme, from the 15,000 Windrush arrivals in the 1950s to the 28,000 Ugandan Asians in the 1970s. The total potential one million spread over five years would be larger than the population of Liverpool and would bring the number of Chinese in the UK to 1.5 million, overtaking the number of Indians at 1.4 million. However, it is the potential economic uplift that could have the biggest impact on the UK, with the Home Office's estimates putting the "net positive impact" at between £2.4 billion and £2.9 billion over five years, "the majority attributable to additional tax revenue." This is based on the £6 billion generated for the Exchequer through tax revenues minus the cost to the state from the incoming Hong Kong families' use of health, education and other public services. Under the scheme, Hong Kongers who have, or are eligible for, British National Overseas (BNO) passports will be able to sidestep jobs, skills and income tests that other migrants will face from January 1 2021 and secure five-year UK visas. They will not be entitled to claim benefits and will have to pay the health surcharge and visa fees. They will also be expected to be able to accommodate and support themselves for at least six months and demonstrate a commitment to learn English and have no criminal record. The scheme was launched after the UK suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and slapped an arms embargo on the territory in response to China's national security law on the former British territory. It means that from January, BNOs and their immediate family can apply for 30-month or five-year visas to live, work and study in the UK, and can seek British citizenship once they have been in the country for more than five years. See video below of clashes in Hong Kong in May this year, as the authorities crack down on protesters:
|
| University of Utah admits error in Lauren McCluskey’s death and agrees to pay $13.5m settlement Posted: 22 Oct 2020 05:10 PM PDT  Lauren McCluskey had reported harassment to police more than 20 times
|
| 'They only care about votes': As millions slip into poverty, voting may be the only leverage for a 2nd stimulus check Posted: 21 Oct 2020 07:39 AM PDT  Millions of Americans across the country are fed up with elected officials who haven't worked out a second stimulus bill. As more time passes, Americans don't care how it gets done; they just want something done.
|
| After teacher’s murder, France touts secularism. But Muslims feel heat. Posted: 21 Oct 2020 10:01 AM PDT |
| Mali's army liberates village besieged by jihadists: army statement Posted: 22 Oct 2020 04:42 PM PDT |
| Texas woman died from COVID-19 after Spirit flight was diverted to Albuquerque in July Posted: 21 Oct 2020 10:57 AM PDT  The Garland, Texas, woman, who was in her 30s, was dead on arrival when her flight from Las Vegas to Dallas was diverted to Albuquerque in late July.
|
| Landlord threatens to raise tenants’ rent if Biden elected Posted: 22 Oct 2020 01:22 PM PDT  Residents at a Colorado trailer park claim they were told their rent would double if the former VP wins the 2020 presidential election. A Colorado landlord allegedly threatened his tenants by sending them a letter saying their rent would double if former vice president Joe Biden is elected. 9NEWS reported residents of the Colorado trailer park emailed the letter from their landlord to the news outlet questioning whether or not the threat was legal.
|
| At least 10 bodies were found by researchers in a dig searching for victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre Posted: 21 Oct 2020 03:11 PM PDT  An estimated 150 to 300 people, who were mostly Black, were killed in the Tulsa Race Massacre, which occurred from May 31, 1921 to June 1, 1921.
|
| UK warship seizes 450 kilograms of meth in Arabian Sea Posted: 21 Oct 2020 01:20 AM PDT |
| Pompeo to ask China partner Sri Lanka to make 'difficult' choices Posted: 22 Oct 2020 01:00 PM PDT  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will ask Sri Lanka to make "difficult" choices on its growing relationship with China amid criticism the island is sliding toward authoritarianism, an official said Thursday.
|
| Delta brutally subtweets rival airlines like American and United for not blocking middle seats during a pandemic Posted: 22 Oct 2020 12:22 PM PDT  Delta's tweet, which read "A haunted house, but they're not blocking middle seats," appeared to call out competitor airlines.
|
| Joe Biden hides in his basement as corruption claims mount Posted: 21 Oct 2020 07:19 PM PDT  Trump Organization EVP Eric Trump reacts to news Hunter Biden laptop connected to money laundering probe
|
| Suspect with ‘high-powered rifle’ opens fire in McDonald’s drive-thru, Mississippi cops say Posted: 22 Oct 2020 06:43 AM PDT  One person died and three were injured, police say.
|
| 100-year-old voter shares advice ahead of election, names favorite president in her lifetime Posted: 22 Oct 2020 11:10 AM PDT  Voting since she was eighteen, Mabel Cook votes in her fifteenth presidential election. Great-grandkids witness the monumental event
|
| Exclusive: 'Dumb mistake' exposed Iranian hand behind fake Proud Boys U.S. election emails - sources Posted: 22 Oct 2020 01:13 PM PDT  Government analysts and private sector investigators were able to rapidly attribute to Iranian hackers a wave of thousands of threatening emails aimed at U.S. voters because of mistakes made in a video attached to some of the messages, according to four people familiar with the matter. "Either they made a dumb mistake or wanted to get caught," said a senior U.S. government official, who asked not to be identified.
|
| Kobe Bryant’s Widow Vanessa Lists Tuscan-Style Southern California Home Posted: 22 Oct 2020 02:20 PM PDT  The couple purchased the three-bedroom dwelling in Irvine as an investment in 2013
|
| Turkey slams joint declaration by Cyprus, Greece and Egypt Posted: 22 Oct 2020 03:41 AM PDT  Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Thursday slammed a joint statement by Greece, Cyprus and Egypt that condemns Turkish energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and numerous "provocations" that they maintain are threatening regional peace. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it "fully rejected the declaration containing baseless accusations and allegations." During a trilateral regional summit Wednesday in Nicosia, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged Ankara to end its "aggressive" actions.
|
| Japan PM pushes closer Southeast Asia ties in China counter Posted: 20 Oct 2020 11:49 PM PDT  Japan's new prime minister pledged Wednesday to help Southeast Asian nations increase their maritime security capabilities, as he used his first overseas trip as leader to push his country's vision for greater international cooperation to counter China's influence in the region. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, speaking in the Indonesian capital, also took a thinly veiled dig at China's activities in the disputed South China Sea, where it has built and militarized manmade islands and is pressing its claim to virtually all of the sea's key fisheries and waterways.
|
| What do candidates for the 8th District believe should be done to prepare for a COVID-19 surge? Posted: 22 Oct 2020 02:27 PM PDT  Candidates for the 8th congressional district -- Rep. Stephen Lynch and Jon Lott -- share their views of how the federal government should be preparing for a COVID-19 surge or the next pandemic.
|
| A 26-year-old coronavirus patient who was pronounced brain dead in June just walked out of the hospital a survivor Posted: 22 Oct 2020 11:25 AM PDT  Doctors suggested Tionna Hairston's family take her off life support, but they decided to hold on. She's now a COVID-19 survivor.
|
| Grandmother’s pill mills made millions in Tennessee, feds say. She’s going to prison Posted: 22 Oct 2020 02:27 PM PDT  Sylvia Hofstetter was sentenced to more than three decades in prison after prosecutors said she pocketed $4 million distributing oxycodone and other opiates.
|
| Fact check: Australia never counted Aboriginal people as animals under 'Flora and Fauna Act' Posted: 22 Oct 2020 07:34 AM PDT  There is no evidence of a Flora and Fauna Act under Australian law that classified its Aboriginal population as plants and animals.
|
| Pro-Graham Group Runs Ad Linking Rival Harrison to ‘Looting’ and ‘Rioting’ Posted: 22 Oct 2020 01:00 PM PDT  As Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) fights for his political life, his supporters' closing argument has emerged: a vote for Democratic candidate Jaime Harrison, they contend, is a vote for looting, rioting, and chaos.That's the message delivered by Hobart Lewis, the sheriff of Greenville County, South Carolina, in an ad paid for by a pro-Graham super PAC, that hit airwaves in the state this week.As footage rolls of looters smashing windows and setting fires, Lewis intones, "the rioting, the looting, the chaos... If Jaime Harrison is elected to the Senate, get ready, because it's comin'."Standing in uniform in front of a squad car, Lewis, who is white, alleges that Harrison "stands with the radicals who want to defund the police," as the camera pans to the window of a squad car, which shows the faces of Harrison, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The sheriff then goes on to say Harrison has "dangerous ideas and zero experience" before touting Graham's law enforcement credentials.South Carolina is hardly the only state where Senate GOP forces are advancing a "law and order" message in the closing chapters of the 2020 campaign, drawing on imagery from recent violent protests around the country to make the case that Democrats are complicit in such conduct and that things would get worse should they gain power in Washington. In September, the Senate GOP's official campaign arm released an ad, targeted to a national audience, that showed similarly apocalyptic scenes of urban violence and urging voters to "say no to the mob."But the ad takes on an added significance in South Carolina: Harrison is Black, and he has made clear that his path to victory rests on galvanizing Black voters, who constitute 26 percent of the state's electorate.Sen. Lindsey Graham Jokes About 'Good Old Days of Segregation' at ACB HearingThe ad's messenger also brings some baggage to his role as Team Graham's last-minute heavy for a law-and-order pitch. In June, Lewis said that George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, two Black men killed this year at the hands of police, would be alive if they'd "complied" with police."If both men had complied… no matter what the circumstance… had they'd both complied and been handcuffed and not been confrontational and not gotten physical or any of that stuff, both would be alive today," Lewis said, before adding that law enforcement could do better. The comment sparked calls for Lewis' resignation from Black activists in Greenville County, the state's most populous.Harrison himself has taken deep offense at the ad, calling it "idiotic," while insisting he has never supported defunding the police and has featured cops in his own closing ads. "I am not for defunding the police because that's like defunding my family, who we put out on the frontlines to protect and serve their communities," Harrison told the Post and Courier of Charleston, which first reported on the ad.Guy King, a spokesperson for Harrison, told The Daily Beast that "Graham should call for this ad to be taken down" and that "the desperation is obvious."Graham has said publicly he did not know about the ad, since it was not run by his campaign but by Security is Strength, an outside super PAC formed to advance his political interests. But he welcomed Lewis to a campaign rally on Tuesday and said "this guy rocks," the Post and Courier reported.Graham himself has faced criticism recently for remarks on race: during the Supreme Court confirmation hearings last week in the Senate Judiciary Committee he chairmans, he facetiously referred to the "good old days of segregation." Later, he insisted the comments were made sarcastically to prove a point that "there's nobody in America in the legislative arena wanting to take us back to that dark period in American history," he said. But critics wondered why Graham would make light of the Jim Crow era even in that context, and Harrison focused on the remarks in social media posts and fundraising pitches.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
|
| Republican senators ask EPA not to boost refinery biofuel obligations in 2021 Posted: 21 Oct 2020 02:24 PM PDT  A group of U.S. Republican senators asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday to consider a general waiver that would prevent an increase in biofuel blending obligations next year for oil refiners hit by a collapse in fuel demand because of the coronavirus pandemic. Senators including Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Ted Cruz from Texas said the waiver for 2021 would help refiners cope with the pandemic, which has pushed gasoline demand down more than 10% from year-ago levels. U.S. laws require the refining industry to blend increasing amounts of biofuels into their fuels each year, requirements that have helped farmers by creating a huge market for corn-based ethanol, but which refiners say is costly.
|
| Mexico's feminist protests grow louder. So does debate over tactics. Posted: 21 Oct 2020 08:21 AM PDT  Mexican feminist activists have occupied the National Commission for Human Rights office in Mexico City, sparking debate about protest tactics.
|
| Judge slams DeVos for rejecting 94% of loan relief claims Posted: 21 Oct 2020 11:15 AM PDT  Months after vowing to process a backlog of 160,000 requests for loan forgiveness from students who say they were defrauded by their schools, the U.S. Education Department has rejected 94% of claims it has reviewed, according to a federal judge who is demanding justification for the "blistering pace" of denials. In a biting decision issued Monday in California, U.S. District Judge William Alsup said the department has been denying claims using template letters that are "alarmingly curt." Alsup threatened to suspend the agency from rejecting further requests, saying its approach "hangs borrowers out to dry."
|
| Electoral college explained: how Biden faces an uphill battle in the US election Posted: 22 Oct 2020 02:57 AM PDT  Trump won the presidency in 2016 despite Clinton receiving almost 3m more votes, all because of the electoral college. How does the system work? Who elects the US president?When Americans cast their ballots for the US president, they are actually voting for a representative of that candidate's party known as an elector. There are 538 electors who then vote for the president on behalf of the people in their state.Each state is assigned a certain number of these electoral votes, based on the number of congressional districts they have, plus two additional votes representing the state's Senate seats. Washington DC is also assigned three electoral votes, despite having no voting representation in Congress. A majority of 270 of these votes is needed to win the presidency.The process of nominating electors varies by state and by party, but is generally done one of two ways. Ahead of the election, political parties either choose electors at their national conventions, or they are voted for by the party's central committee.The electoral college nearly always operates with a winner-takes-all system, in which the candidate with the highest number of votes in a state claims all of that state's electoral votes. For example, in 2016, Trump beat Clinton in Florida by a margin of just 2.2%, but that meant he claimed all 29 of Florida's crucial electoral votes.Such small margins in a handful of key swing states meant that, regardless of Clinton's national vote lead, Trump was able to clinch victory in several swing states and therefore win more electoral college votes. Biden could face the same hurdle in November, meaning he will need to focus his attention on a handful of battleground states to win the presidency.A chart showing electoral college votes by state The unequal distribution of electoral votesWhile the number of electoral votes a state is assigned somewhat reflects its population, the minimum of three votes per state means that the relative value of electoral votes varies across America.The least populous states like North and South Dakota and the smaller states of New England are overrepresented because of the required minimum of three electoral votes. Meanwhile, the states with the most people – California, Texas and Florida – are underrepresented in the electoral college.Wyoming has one electoral college vote for every 193,000 people, compared with California's rate of one electoral vote per 718,000 people. This means that each electoral vote in California represents over three times as many people as one in Wyoming. These disparities are repeated across the country.A visual of population per electoral vote by state Who does it favour?Experts have warned that, after returning two presidents that got fewer votes than their opponents since 2000, the electoral college is flawed.In 2000, Al Gore won over half a million more votes than Bush, yet Bush became president after winning Florida by just 537 votes. In all, the US has had five presidents who lost the overall popular vote but won the election.A chart showing recent election outcomes by popular vote and electoral college marginsProfessor George Edwards III, at Texas A&M University, said: "The electoral college violates the core tenet of democracy, that all votes count equally and allows the candidate finishing second to win the election. Why hold an election if we do not care who received the most votes?"At the moment, the electoral college favours Republicans because of the way Republican votes are distributed across the country. They are more likely to occur in states that are closely divided between the parties."Under the winner-takes-all system, the margin of victory in a state becomes irrelevant. In 2016, Clinton's substantial margins in states such as California and New York failed to earn her enough electoral votes, while close races in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Michigan took Trump over the 270 majority.A visual showing margins and electoral votes by state gained by Trump and Clinton in 2016As candidates easily win the electoral votes of their solid states, the election plays out in a handful of key battlegrounds. In 2016, Trump won six such states - Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – adding 99 electoral votes to his total.The demographics of these states differ from the national average. They are older, have more white voters without college degrees, and often have smaller non-white populations. These characteristics generally favour Republicans, and made up the base of Trump's votes in 2016.For example, 67% of non-college-educated white people voted for Trump in 2016. In all six swing states, this demographic is overrepresented by at least six percentage points more than the national average.default The alternativesSeveral alternative systems for electing the president have been proposed and grown in favour, as many seek to change or abolish the electoral college.Two states – Maine and Nebraska – already use a different method of assigning their electoral college votes. The two "Senate" votes go to the state-wide popular vote winner, but the remaining district votes are awarded to the winner of that district. However, implementing this congressional district method across the country could result in greater bias than the current system. The popular vote winner could still lose the election, and the distribution of voters would still strongly favour Republicans.The National Popular Vote Compact (NPVC) is another option, in which each state would award all of its electoral college votes in line with the national popular vote. If enough states signed up to this agreement to reach the 270 majority, the candidate who gained the most votes nationwide would always win the presidency.However, the NPVC has more practical issues. Professor Norman Williams, from Willamette University, questioned how a nationwide recount would be carried out under the NPVC, and said that partisanship highlighted its major flaws. Only Democratic states are currently signed up, but support could simply switch in the future if a Republican candidate faces winning the popular vote but not the presidency.The NPVC is a solution that would elect the president with the most votes without the difficulty of abolishing the electoral college that is enshrined in the constitution.The current system is also vulnerable to distorted outcomes through actions such as gerrymandering. This practice involves precisely redrawing the borders of districts to concentrate support in favour of a party. The result being abnormally shaped districts that disenfranchise certain groups of voters. Today, an amendment that would replace the college with a direct national popular vote is seen by many as the fairest electoral system.According to Professor Edwards III, "There is only one appropriate way to elect the president: add up all the votes and declare the candidate receiving the most votes the winner."default
|
| Hunter Biden emails were said to be shopped around in Ukraine for $5 million, while Giuliani met with officials and businessmen there last year Posted: 21 Oct 2020 10:15 PM PDT  Two people told Time they were approached with the emails, and one said the person making the offer had a buyer in mind: the president's allies.
|
| Lincoln Project targets Ivanka and Jared for Covid-19 death count with massive Times Square billboards Posted: 22 Oct 2020 01:42 PM PDT  'There must be accountability for the lying and deaths — this is just the start,' says anti-Trump conservative group
|
| Who wins when a fish and snake tangle? SC man catches life-or-death struggle on video Posted: 22 Oct 2020 12:57 PM PDT  "I looked down and the snake had a big catfish in his mouth," the man said. "I thought it was awesome."
|
| Police major who oversaw Taylor drug raid unit investigated Posted: 22 Oct 2020 10:05 AM PDT  A Louisville Police major who oversaw the unit that sent officers to Breonna Taylor's home the night she was fatally shot is the subject of an internal police investigation. The department's Professional Standards Unit opened an investigation this week into Maj. Kimberly Burbrink, the commander of the Criminal Interdiction Division, the Courier Journal reported. Burbrink was allowed to attend a May video call to update department leaders about the Taylor case, even though investigators "voiced concern" about her presence on the call.
|
