Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to the Supreme Court
Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Oct. 26 in a rush to fill the seat left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg before the election. Barrett’s confirmation secures a conservative majority and is President Donald Trump’s third nomination to the highest court. It is also thesecond-closestSupreme Court confirmation to a presidential election in history and is the first time a Supreme Court justice was confirmed without bipartisan support since 1869. At just 48, Barrett has the potential to influence rulings on hot button issues, like health care and access to abortions, for generations to come.
Final election results will not likely be known tonight
With the spike in early voting and the need for extra time to count votes, it is highly unlikely that the final election results for many races will be known tonight. Though media networks try to call the races on the night of the election based on their own analyses, states continue to count ballots after the election and final results are often not made official until weeks later; legally, they do not need to be. However, this year, election experts are warning that, due to a large spike in mail-in ballots and specific election rules, counting will take longer than it typically does. NPR reported that the results in Pennsylvania, a key swing state, may not be finalized until Friday, Nov. 6, because counties are only allowed to begin processing ballots on the morning of Election Day. For weeks, President Donald Trump and much of the Republican Party have been fighting to discredit early voting measures and pressuring news networks to call the election night-of, laying the foundation for him to challenge election results if he loses the presidential race.
Early voting breaks records
As of Sunday morning, at least 92 million Americans already cast their votes for the election, almost twice as many early voters as in the 2016 election. In this election, early voting is expected to account for approximately the equivalent of two-thirds the number of votes cast in 2016, but several states are reporting much more than that fraction. In Texas and Hawaii, the number of people who have voted early has already surpassed the total number of people who voted in the last presidential election. Swing states like Florida and Georgia have also surpassed this number; both states are reporting that the amount of early voters is equivalent to over 90% of total 2016 voters. So far, the majority of early votes have been cast by mail — approximately 59 million in comparison to 33 million in person — and Democratic candidates appear to have a leg up in early voting.
Fauci criticizesWhite House COVID-19 response
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has openly criticized President Trump’s COVID-19 response for the first time.
“We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation … you could not possibly be positioned more poorly,” Fauci said in an interview with The Washington Post. Fauci also said he no longer regularly briefs the president, who now frequently meets with Dr. Scott Atlas, a controversial figure who has provided information that is contrary to what most medical experts have been saying. Trump has continued to downplay the virus and continues to hold maskless rallies. He even suggested at a Florida rally that he may fire Fauci after the election.
Some other things to know…
Hurricane Zeta, this season’s 27th storm, hit the Gulf Coast hard on Thursday, leaving at least six dead and over 2 million without power.
This week, several European countries, including France, Spain and England, announced increased COVID-19-related measures following a surge in cases. Some restrictions include lockdowns in England, curfews and forced closures of businesses.
France is grappling with its second potential terror attack within the last couple of weeks. On Thursday, a man stabbed three people to death in a Nice church. Several weeks earlier, on Oct. 16, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded for showing satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to students.
