Your Daily Roundup for October 28th

Good morning. As the COVID-19 pandemic takes a toll on life in America, our team at Future Majority is tracking the latest updates: 

What Monday’s SCOTUS decision means for Wisconsin voters and Americans:

On Monday night, the 8-seat Supreme Court ruled in a 5-3 decision that Wisconsin could not extend its deadline for receiving absentee ballots to six days after Election Day. Ballots in the key swing state must now be received by 8 p.m. on November 3rd. In the April primary in the state, an extended mail receipt deadline was in place, and an estimated 80,000 ballots were counted that were received after primary election day. In a state that was one by only 23,000 votes in 2016, this rule change could have a substantial impact.

Perhaps most telling was Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion that argued that “states...want to be able to definitively announce the results of the election on election night , or as soon as possible thereafter.” States are not required to announce results that night -- it is the news media that historically has made projections based on key indicators and data. It is actually not until December 14th this year that state electors meet and vote based on the outcome in their states. 

A record number of COVID-19 cases in the past week:

The United States reported over 500,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past week alone ending Tuesday, a record for the course of the pandemic. That same day, the White House issued a press release of its first-term accomplishments in the field of science and technology, and “ENDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC” was included. The virus is rapidly spreading -- it took three months to reach 500,000 cases in the U.S. and just a week to reach this record.

The general election:

In only 6 days, the last ballots will be cast in the presidential election of 2020. A new four-way poll from IBD/TIPP shows former Vice President Joe Biden narrowly leading the pack:

• Biden: 50%
• Trump: 45%
• Jorgensen: 2%
• Hawkins: 1%