Supreme Court Blocks Curbside Voting, Loosening Of ID Requirements For Absentee Ballots
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday halted plans to provide curbside voting in the July 14 primary runoff and to ease ID requirements to vote by absentee ballot.
The state went to the Supreme Court asking that it stay a lower court judge’s ruling that eased some voting practices in an attempt to lessen the potential exposure to the coronavirus, particularly among older people.
That ruling was issued last month by U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon, and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block the ruling last week.
Thursday, the high court issued a temporary stay in the case on a 5-4 vote, but it still will have to decide whether to take up the case in full.
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill announced the decision on Twitter Thursday evening.
Kallon had based his original ruling on the threat of coronavirus, saying that the “burdens imposed by the challenged election laws on voters at high risk of severe complications or death from COVID-19 are not justified by the state’s interests in enforcing the laws.”
His ruling would have allowed local voting officials to offer curbside voting at polling places if they chose to do so. It also would have allowed voting officials in Jefferson, Mobile and Lee counties to waive requirements that people voting by absentee ballot mail in a copy of an ID card with a photo, as well as have their ballots witnessed and notarized.
The suit was filed by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program.
You read that white: Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year is ‘Cloud Dancer’
This is the first time Pantone has chosen a shade of white. The company says it's "a lofty white that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a society rediscovering the value of quiet reflection."
CDC advisers delay planned vote on hepatitis B vaccine for infants
After a contentious discussion, the vaccine advisory group pushed the vote to Friday to give members time to study the language of proposed changes longstanding policy on the shots.
DOJ orders prison inspectors to stop considering LGBTQ safety standards
A memo obtained by NPR shows the Justice Department is telling inspectors to stop evaluating prisons using standards designed to protect trans and other LGBTQ community members from sexual violence.
U.S. reconsiders Tanzania ties after deadly post-election crackdown
The U.S. is "comprehensively reviewing" its relationship with Tanzania after hundreds were killed in a violent post-election crackdown.
How old is your music taste? Spotify will tell you, though you may not like it
Spotify Wrapped is bluntly telling users their "listening age," which in many cases is several decades older or younger than their actual age. It's a calculated strategy.
Tune in to a mini-concert with Nation of Language
The New York band performs tracks from their latest album, Dance Called Memory.
