Month: November 2020

On Sunday, the Texas Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking to invalidate 127,000 votes cast at drive-thru polling stations in the state’s most populous county, Harris County. The court denied the challenge by a Republican activist and three Republican candidates in the state arguing that the drive-thru polling sites in the largely Democratic Harris County are unconstitutional. The court denied the request without an order or opinion. An emergency hearing will be held on Monday morning in Houston for a challenge by the same plaintiffs in federal court.

Drive-thru ballots account for about 10% of in-person ballots cast through the state’s early voting period. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the county set up 10 drive-thru centers where voters can pull up in their vehicles and vote on an electronic tablet passed through their window by a poll worker after having their registrations and identifications confirmed. The plaintiffs argued drive-thru voting was an expansion of the state’s curbside voting policy and should only be available to people with disabilities. The Harris County Clerk’s Office countered that its drive-thru locations are separate and distinct polling places from the curbside locations and therefore can be utilized by all voters.

Texas court rejects bid to toss out 127,000 drive-thru votes, but fight isn’t over

Via news.yahoo.com

The Texas Supreme Court rejected a bid to discard almost 127,000 votes cast in drive-thru lanes…

11/01/2020 6:01 PM

 

As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Illinois at an unprecedented rate, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced on Sunday that new restrictions will be placed in all eleven regions of Illinois.

Pritzker will be imposing a ban on indoor service at bars and restaurants, among other restrictions, this week for Region 2 — which covers 20 North-Central counties, including Rock Island, Kendall and Knox counties — after the area saw an average positivity rate above the 8% positivity threshold for three consecutive days. Starting Wednesday, all 11 of the state’s regions will be operating under the governor’s COVID-19 restrictions.

Pritzker, who hinted last week the peak of this outbreak is still nowhere in sight, said the mitigation measures are being put in place to help limit the spread of the virus. “As cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising across our state, across the Midwest and across the nation, we have to act responsibly and collectively to protect the people we love,” Pritzker said in a statement.

The news comes as state health officials announced 6,980 new cases and an additional 35 coronavirus-related deaths, making Sunday the fifth consecutive day Illinois’ daily caseload has topped 6,000 — a number that far exceeds anything seen in the state’s previous COVID-19 peak in May.

More than 119,600 people tested positive for the virus in Illinois over the last 30 days, and the state has broken the daily caseload record five out of the last 12 days, including Saturday when state health officials announced 7,899 new cases. Even more concerning, Illinois hospitals are treating the most coronavirus patients they’ve seen since the end of May. 

Illinois institutes COVID-19 restrictions in all 11 regions as U.S. reports 81K new cases

Via www.upi.com

Illinois will reinstitute COVID-19 mitigation measures in all 11 of its regions beginning…

11/01/2020 6:18 PM

 

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