The Georgia state Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would require voters to submit a driver’s license number, state identification card number or a photocopy of an approved form of identification in order to vote absentee in the state. Senate Bill 67 passed the upper chamber in 35-18 vote on Tuesday and now heads to the state House for consideration, The Associated Press reports . The bill has already been met with opposition from Democrats and voting rights groups who say the legislation would make it difficult for voters who don't have a driver’s license or state identification card to vote absentee. According to the AP, absentee ballots are currently tallied using signature verification. ADVERTISEMENT State Sen. Larry Walker, one of the Republicans sponsoring the bill, said the bill would not affect about 97 percent of voters, according to the AP. The remaining percentage of voters, Walker said, could vote in person. In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, voting rights group Fair Fight Action said the bill would add “needless barriers to voting in Georgia” and accused proponents of the measure of ignoring voters who would be affected by the legislation. “In Georgia, with more than 7,692,567 registered voters, that means that 230,777 electors may not have the requisite identification and will therefore incur a burden in complying with the law,” the group said, while also adding that the “discriminatory policy” shows “Georgia has not moved past the racist motivations for which it was included in preclearance under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.” The bill, which has more than 25 Republican co-sponsors, is one of a number of bills Republicans have filed in the Georgia General Assembly that would directly impact voting, particularly absentee voting , and voter registration in the state. Another bill advanced by a state Senate subcommittee in a party-line 3-2 vote would, if passed, require Georgians who wish to vote by absentee to ...
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2nd former aide accuses New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment
A second former aide has come forward with sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who responded with a statement Saturday saying he never made advances toward her and never intended to be inappropriate. Charlotte Bennett, a health policy adviser in the Democratic governor’s administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life, including whether she had ever had sex with older men. Another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, a former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to the governor, recently accused Cuomo of subjecting her to an unwanted kiss and inappropriate comments. Cuomo denied the allegations. Cuomo said in a statement Saturday that Bennett was a “hardworking and valued member of our team during COVID” and that “she has every right to speak out.” He said he had intended to be a mentor for Bennett, who is 25. “I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate,” Cuomo’s statement said. “The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported.” Cuomo, however, said he had authorized an outside review of Bennett’s allegations. The governor’s special counsel, Beth Garvey, said that review would be conducted by a former federal judge, Barbara Jones. “I ask all New Yorkers to await the findings of the review so that they know the facts before making any judgements,” Cuomo said. “I will have no further comment until the review has concluded.” The pair of harassment allegations represent a deepening crisis for Cuomo, who just months ago was at the height of his popularity for his leadership during the height of the coronavirus pandemic last spring. In recent weeks, he has been assailed, even by some fellow Democrats, over revelations that his administration had substantially underreported COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. A state ...
The GOP’s uncertain future
What if President Donald Trump throws out the political playbook yet again and starts his own political party? Many conservatives believe the left stole the 2020 presidential election and hope to save the country from the socialist squad of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Democrats don't trust GOP on 1/6 commission: 'These people are dangerous' Progressives fume over Senate setbacks Budget Committee chair pledges to raise minimum wage: 'Hold me to it' MORE (D-N.Y.). Would those conservatives join a new national political party? They just might. ADVERTISEMENT Don’t believe me? A recent Rasmussen poll found that 61 percent of Republicans agree that President Biden did not win the election fairly . This is an astonishing share for a viewpoint that our social institutions do not tolerate. It is a thought crime according to many in the mainstream media, social media, Hollywood and academia. The campaign to alter these Americans’ view has failed, but not for lack of trying. Where should these Republicans turn? They are not about to give up on civic engagement merely because they are supposedly unwelcome in polite society. They know better than to wallow aimlessly in despair of ever winning another election. Would they join a new party that better represents them? Almost half of Republican voters said in a recent poll that they would join a new Trump-led political party, and less than one-third would stay with the Republican Party. Howls of “you will lose every future election if you divide the Republican party in half” will not resonate with those who felt certain that President Trump Donald Trump Noem touts South Dakota coronavirus response, knocks lockdowns in CPAC speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom — a story of two embattled governors McCarthy: 'I would bet my house' GOP takes back lower chamber in 2022 MORE would win reelection based on his record of achievements . Many ...
NIH director: Mask politicalization may have cost ‘tens of thousands’ of lives in US
The director for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said in a new interview that statements made by former President Trump Donald Trump Noem touts South Dakota coronavirus response, knocks lockdowns in CPAC speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom — a story of two embattled governors McCarthy: 'I would bet my house' GOP takes back lower chamber in 2022 MORE and other Republicans who dismissed mask wearing during the coronavirus pandemic may have cost tens of thousands of lives. "The evidence was pretty compelling by last March or April that uniform wearing of masks would reduce transmission of this disease," Francis Collins told Axios . "And yet, with a variety of messages through a variety of sources, mask wearing became a statement about your political party or an invasion of your personal freedom." Collins also said that pleas from national public health officials like himself to commit to face coverings while in public "got categorized in all sorts of other ways that were not factual" by politicians, despite scientific proof showing that mass mask wearing helps slow the spread of the coronavirus ADVERTISEMENT Collins called this spinning of scientific information for political gain "dangerous." "And I think you could make a case that tens of thousands of people died as a result," he said. The NIH director, who often appeared on television during the pandemic in its early stages to share updated government coronavirus research and advocate for public health measures based on that data, was pressed about political messaging surrounding his agency's efforts during an election year. In response, Collins said 2020 "was a pretty difficult year." "It's so disappointing that such behaviors could be chosen — intentionally by people who have access to real public health information and yet would decide not to put on the mask in order to make some other kind of statement," he said. "Perhaps with some sense that they're immune ...
Majority of Republicans say 2020 election was invalid: poll
More than two-thirds of Republicans say the 2020 presidential election was invalid, according to a new survey. The poll from the R Street Institute, a free markets group, found that 67 percent of Republicans view the past election as invalid, compared to 23 percent who believe it was valid. About half of all Republicans said they believe their votes were counted, while 42 percent said the system is corrupt and that their vote “probably doesn’t get counted anyway.” ADVERTISEMENT “ President Trump Donald Trump Noem touts South Dakota coronavirus response, knocks lockdowns in CPAC speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom — a story of two embattled governors McCarthy: 'I would bet my house' GOP takes back lower chamber in 2022 MORE ’s rhetoric seems to have had a profound impact on his base’s outlook on the election,” said a memo from the Tyson Group, which conducted the survey. “Across all regions, our participants by and large opposed alternative voting methods, believed that those methods opened the election process to fraud, and felt that the 2020 election result was invalid.” Former President Trump and his allies claimed that he won the 2020 election in a “landslide” but that it was stolen from him through systemic fraud. The Trump campaign lost dozens of lawsuits aiming to nullify Democratic votes or overturn the outcome in key swing states that President Biden Joe Biden Noem touts South Dakota coronavirus response, knocks lockdowns in CPAC speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom — a story of two embattled governors Biden celebrates vaccine approval but warns 'current improvement could reverse' MORE won. This week, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Pennsylvania’s expansion of mail balloting during the pandemic. Trump’s election fraud claims preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob trying to disrupt the Electoral College vote count. Trump’s claims have torn Republicans ...
