This week the Texas Supreme Court handed down a decision on the contentious issues of voting in person during a pandemic.
The court which is made up of entirely of Republicans ruled that fear of the coronavirus isn’t a justification for receiving an absentee ballots.
This could potentially disenfranchise many Texans if the coronavirus pandemic keeps voters at home come Election Day.
But also the court decided that anyone with a physical condition in which voting in person creates a likeyhood of injury – is illegible to a mail-in absentee ballot.
President Trump and other leading Republicans like Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick are seeking to block expansion of vote by mail. Trump has said voting by mail is bad for Republicans and has issued false claims about voter fraud by mail.
Edward Espinoza is the executive director of Progress Texas.
Trump And Civil Rights
During the middle of a pandemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives and cost millions more jobs. This week President Donald Trump issued an executive order designed to punish social media companies after Twitter amended his tweet with a fact-check notification.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law issued a statement saying Trump's executive order is likely unconstitional and is another example of his efforts to weaken civil rights.
David Brody is counsel and senior fellow for privacy and technology at the lawyers committee for civil rights underlaw.
Presidential Polices of Rioting
The Minneapolis rioting triggered by the death of George Floyd while in police custody is playing out before the eyes of Americans. And this new explosion in the news cycle is going to play in the arena of presidential politics.
Eugene Scott is covering that. He is a politics reporter for the Washington Post.
David Martin Davies can be reached at DMDavies@TPR.org and on Twitter at @DavidMartinDavi.
