No early victory laps (on social media, at least)
Four weeks out from Election Day, social media's two biggest players are taking extra measures so neither presidential candidate can claim premature victory. Facebook will block political ads from a week before Election Day until whenever the winner of Trump vs. Biden is beyond doubt. Twitter doesn't allow political ads anymore, but it will monitor content to call out election misinformation and efforts at voter intimidation.
The president's debate exhortation to his supporters — "Go into the polls and watch very carefully" — raises fears about intimidation and confusion about the differences between poll watching and electioneering. We've got the FAQs and answers here.
Three big election-in-a-pandemic lawsuit rulings are a foretaste of many more in the campaign's final days, and probably after:
- Wisconsin voters will have to make sure their absentee ballots arrive by the time the polls close, because a federal appeals court rejected a lower court order allowing them to be counted even if delayed a week in the mail.
- South Carolina voters will have to get a witness signature on their mail ballots, because the Supreme Court rejected a lower court's order suspending the requirement.
- Texas voters will have one more week to vote early in-person, after the state Supreme Court stuck up for a move by the GOP governor that has many other top Republicans in the state ticked off.
With two dozen days left before the voting must stop, make sure you've got your bases covered with these helpful voter guides. Then take a break and look at some inspiring democracy-themed artwork.
One more thing: This week, The Fulcrum launched Election Dissection, a blog of expert analysis on election disputes. Subscribe to its email newsletter to keep up with the smartest posts.
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Happy voting.
— Sara Swann
