Columnist.
To make sense of the Supreme Court's decision in the "faithless electors" case, it helps to remember something pretty basic: When you vote in a presidential election, you're not actually voting for your chosen candidate.
In a decision issued Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that states can punish presidential electors who break their pledge to support the presidential candidate preferred by the citizens of their states.
A closely contested municipal election for five seats on the Harpers Ferry Town Council in West Virginia highlights the small margins with which some elections are decided, particularly local elections. It also shows how just a small amount of fraud, or — as in this case — administrative errors, can be a deciding factor in the outcome.
Legal nightmare should end.
The 7-2 ruling by the high court Thursday allows the Trump administration to continue doing what the executive branch is supposed to do≥
Some Americans need absentee or mail ballots. The sick or physically disabled, for example. Or those who are overseas serving our country in the military or the diplomatic service. And others who, for quite legitimate reasons, won't be in town on Election Day. But moving to all-mail elections would be dangerous. Ironically, it would likely disenfranchise many voters — the opposite outcome of what proponents of such a change desire.
Political observers should remember that Liberia managed to hold political rallies in 2014 during the much deadlier Ebola epidemic that was sweeping West Africa.
With the Supreme Court's latest erroneous decision on immigration, Chief Justice John Roberts and other justices have done lasting damage to the Constitution, the rule of law, and accountable government.
In what dissenting Justice Samuel Alito called one of the most "brazen abuse[s]" of the Supreme Court's authority, a six-member majority of the court led by Justice Neil Gorsuch has rewritten Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the definition of "sex."
According to reports filed with Congress by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, in the last four federal elections, Michigan election officials rejected more than 25,000 absentee ballots returned to them by voters, while the fate of many more absentee ballots is "unknown." They may have ended up in a landfill or gotten lost in the mail.
From the civil rights movement of the 1960s to the 2009 Taxpayer March on Washington in 2009 to the annual March for Life in our nation's capital, peaceful protests have been a hallmark — and strength — of American democracy. But the violence that has erupted around the protests over the death of George Floyd has nothing to do with democracy.
As the 2020 election cycle continues to unfold despite the coronavirus pandemic, it appears that election fraud also continues to be uncovered and prosecuted, even though Twitter apparently thinks no such fraud occurs.
It is unwise because absentee or mail-in ballots are voted outside the supervision and overview of election officials. It is unnecessary because elections have been successfully held under much more onerous conditions.
In the United States, we don't have kings or queens of any variety. Still, some judges apparently think they are philosopher-kings, and an order released Tuesday by a federal district court judge in Texas shows he may be in that group.
Attorney Sidney Powell has fired a broadside at Judge Emmet Sullivan.
There are so many angles to the FBI-Michael Flynn imbroglio, and most have been covered in great depth across a divergent set of viewpoints. But one aspect that has not been covered, and that opens up a wider lens into FBI policy, is the fact that the FBI refuses to audiotape, much less videotape, interviews of witnesses or suspects such as Flynn.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan's order soliciting comments from outsiders opposed to the Justice Department's motion to throw out charges of lying to FBI agents against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is highly unusual and contradicts earlier rulings by the judge.
All-mail elections have received heightened attention in the media these past few weeks. Prominent liberals highly endorse the idea, claiming it allows people to do their patriotic duty without risking being infected by the coronavirus.
According to the U.S. Justice Department, continuing to prosecute Michael Flynn "would not serve the interests of justice."
