Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mail-In Voting Battles Escalate In States, Courts
The Washington Post: Pennsylvania Republicans Ask Supreme Court To Stop Voting Accommodations
Pennsylvania’s Republican legislative leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to stop a decision by the state’s high court to count mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in Democrats’ favor on a number of mail-voting rules: permitting voters to turn in ballots via drop box in addition to using the U.S. Postal Service; allowing ballots to be returned up to three days after Election Day; and blocking a Republican effort to allow partisan poll watchers to be stationed in counties where they do not live. (Barnes, 9/28)
AP: Tennesseans With Virus-Susceptible Roomies OKed To Mail Vote
A judge has ruled that Tennessee officials have to change the absentee ballot application again to reflect their promise to let voters cast mail ballots if someone in their household has an underlying health condition that makes them more susceptible to COVID-19. In her decision Friday, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle sided with arguments from the plaintiffs in a months-long absentee voting lawsuit. They pointed out that a deputy attorney general made the eligibility commitment for co-habitants in response to multiple questions in front of the state Supreme Court last month. (Mattise, 9/28)
The Hill: Swing-State Voters Cite Pandemics As Top Concern, Less Worried By China Threat: Poll
Voters in 12 battleground states rank fighting global pandemics as a greater concern than standing up to China, according to a survey by Democratic pollster Geoff Garin. Forty-five percent of likely voters in the survey called protecting against pandemics their top priority, compared to 25 percent who said the same in March. (Budryk, 9/28)
In other news —
AP: Health Care, High Court Battle Dominate Montana Senate Race
Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock sought to keep the focus on health care and the pandemic in the race for a Montana U.S. Senate seat, while Republican incumbent Steve Daines put the spotlight on the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy during a heated Monday night debate. With mail ballots going out to voters next week, the two candidates are vying for a seat considered pivotal in determining if Democrats will be able to wrest the majority from Republicans come November. (Brown, 9/29)
AP: Sex Ed Mandate Sparks Bitter Washington State Ballot Fight
Democrats in the Washington state Legislature thought they had passed a routine sex education requirement for public schools earlier this year. But a coalition of Republicans and religious conservatives launched a swift, historic backlash that’s led to a bitter partisan fight and an effort to overturn the measure on the November ballot. Democrats in the famously liberal state say they want to protect young people from sexual abuse, diseases and infections. But the increasingly outnumbered and aggrieved Republicans have taken issue with the content of the standards as they rally for local control. The resulting referendum on the November ballot marks the first time in the country that such a decision on sex ed will be decided by voters. (Ho, 9/28)
Dallas Morning News: Democratic Super PAC Targets North Texas GOP Legislative Hopefuls In TV Ads On Health Care, Schools
Ten GOP hopefuls for Texas House in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are being pounded in attack ads that slam them on health care and schools. On Tuesday, the pro-Democratic super PAC Forward Majority Action Texas was to begin a barrage of cable TV and digital ads, part of a planned $2.6 million advertising buy in North Texas before the Nov. 3 election. (Garrett, 9/29)
