Also on today’s menu at the News Café:
Supreme Court Allows Ballroom Construction To Continue
Franklin Man Injured in ATV Crash in Warren
Voting by mail in the midterm elections will officially begin this week, and a court order is blocking key parts of President Donald Trump’s directives to the United States Postal Service, including the requirement for states to submit voters’ names and ballot envelope barcodes in order for absentee ballots to be delivered. However, a report by the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs informed Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer David Steiner of “an alarming whistleblower disclosure outlining the United States Postal Service’s perilously rushed and potentially unlawful implementation of President Trump’s Executive Order seeking to restrict mail-in voting.”
The whistleblower’s allegations make clear that USPS lacks the technical or operational capability needed to effectively implement the EO’s provisions in a way that safeguards every citizen’s right to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. Despite this, the Trump Administration appears intent on USPS moving forward with its flawed plans, no matter the chaos they may create. The whistleblower’s allegations also provide disturbing information suggesting that USPS may have violated a court order by continuing to implement the EO despite being ordered to cease all such work. We urge you to abandon this ill-conceived, unconscionable plan and ensure that all Americans can exercise their constitutional right to vote, including by mail, without interference by USPS.
Of special concern is the USPS “zero-percent failure policy” which, “As designed … could delay ballots by the thousands in repeated verification cycles — and thus prevent states from mailing enormous numbers of ballots,” according to the disclosure.
Robert Hubbell, in his Today’s Edition Newsletter, maintains that “the difficulty of compliance is real but probably overstated. Red states will implement [the rule] without resistance if they can. Large blue states have sophisticated mail operations that can easily make coding changes to add the USPS barcodes to envelopes. Indeed, a large majority of states already imprint ballots with ‘intelligent barcodes’ so that voters can track the progress of their ballots from mailing to delivery. Many states already consult closely with the USPS to ensure that their mailings meet Postal Service standards.”
Hubbell also points out that suppression of mail-in ballots affects Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike, and that older people and those residing in rural areas use mail ballots at a higher than those in urban settings. Older rural voters strongly favor Republicans, so Trump — who uses mail ballots himself — is making it harder for his supporters to vote.
Discussion: The concerns that, if the USPS portal mistakenly marks a ballot as unverified, leaving no clear process for state election officials or voters to challenge the rejection, is justified. It is safer to vote in person, so those able to do so should do so. A massive voter turnout also can overcome the hazards that the USPS rule creates because it will show that, even if some votes are lost, it will not affect election results.
Supreme Court Allows Ballroom Construction To Continue
The US Supreme Court denied standing for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which wanted to stop President Trump from continuing construction of a ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House, ruling per curiam (unsigned by any justice) that the group had not suffered a concrete injury that would allow its lawsuit to stop the project from moving forward without approval from Congress. The Supreme Court did not address the underlying issue of whether the demolition of the East Wing and construction of a new ballroom that will cost taxpayers at least $300 million is legal.
Notably, Chief Justice John Roberts, who normally sides with the president, joined in a minority dissent of that ruling: “That construction is likely illegal. … The White House is not just any building, and — when it comes to historic preservation… In failing to appreciate as much, the Court misconceives the plaintiff’s injury, allowing the Executive’s likely infringement of the Legislature’s power of the purse and authority to regulate federal property in the District of Columbia to continue. Today’s decision is no victory for the separation of powers. Winston Churchill once remarked that ‘[w]e shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.’ … All the more reason to ensure that those responsible follow the rules in deciding what to tear down and what to build up at the People’s House.”
Joyce Vance of Civil Discourse writes, “[O]ne would expect the Court to preserve the status quo while litigation proceeds to determine whether [harm] existed, but that is not the case, and permitting construction to continue essentially prejudges the outcome of the case because what is the Court going to do? Order it all torn down in three years when the case is over if Trump loses?”
Discussion: The president has a point in saying that the ballroom “would enhance security for Presidents and their visitors who in the past have had to meet in soft tents or offsite when gathering in large numbers” but that argument only materialized when lower courts ordered a halt to the construction. Originally, it was just a ballroom with a “new below-ground military installation”. No plans for sniper lofts, drone ports, or other enhancements. As for the underground facility, the Obama administration already had installed a highly secure subterranean bunker able to withstand a nuclear blast and capable of housing the president and dozens of staffers for several weeks. Before embarking on his ballroom project, Trump could have used the established approval process, but chose to bypass the rules, as he always does, rushing to complete it before anyone can say no.
Franklin Man Injured in ATV Crash in Warren
Timothy Huckins, 65, of Franklin was seriously injured when the all-terrain vehicle he was operating on the Glen Cliff Loop OHRV trail in Warren crashed around 6 p.m. on August 28.
Conservation officers from the NH Fish and Game Department were notified of the crash by other trail users who came upon Huckins and called 911. Members of the Warren and Wentworth fire departments also responded to the call and an ambulance took Huckins to Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth for further evaluation.
Authorities say Huckins was the sole victim of the crash.
Discussion: The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
During Trump 1.0 we still had our mail in votes. However, many of us took those ballots and physically brought them to designated drop offs here. We obviously were not the only ones concerned. The line of cars was very long. Now, we always vote in person. We are fortunate that we don’t live in a more ethnically diverse area where our state is closing, or moving polling places where no public transportation is available. Well. It is DeSantis.
The Supreme Court has already given immunity for just about everything he does. I am just glad that I don’t live outside of DC anymore. I loved going into DC to many events. The White House was a special place to me. I loved taking our visitors all around DC. The Oval Office is at least a place where all that, gag, over the top gold decoration can be removed. As well as taking down the disrespectful “auto pen” photo representing President Biden. They, the administration, says the concrete and rebar is similar to how nuclear power plants are built. Meaning it would be very difficult to tear down the ballroom. And they have workers going 7 days a week 20 hours a day. They are too far along they say to stop. What a bunch of bull that is.