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A ruling for North Carolina Republicans would create a confusing, two-tiered election system, with different rules for federal and state elections.

North Carolina Republicans appeared to have at least three of the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative justices on their side Wednesday in a case that could determine the future of elections nationwide, and leave decisions about federal elections in the hands of state legislatures. Read more»

Election officials say the independent state legislature theory would make it extremely difficult — if not impossible — to make decisions affecting election administration. 

Supreme Court justices will hear from North Carolina lawmakers who argue that state legislatures have unchecked supremacy over federal elections, and state courts are powerless to intervene when lawmakers pass election bills that contravene the state constitution. Read more»

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich joined 12 other Republican attorneys general backing North Carolina's GOP-led legislature in a U.S. Supreme Court case that could drastically alter how federal elections are conducted, handing more power to state legislatures and blocking state courts from intervening. Read more»

Conservative activists have pushed the so-called state legislature theory, which argues that the Constitution gives legislatures the ability to regulate federal elections without oversight from state courts.

Legal experts on Thursday warned lawmakers on the U.S. House Administration Committee that if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a North Carolina case that embraces a fringe election theory, it would undermine future elections across the country. Read more»

The independent state legislature doctrine threatens to make the power of the people a matter of grace provided by state legislatures again.

In a case to be heard this year, the U.S. Supreme Court could decide that state legislatures have control over congressional elections, including the ability to draw voting districts for partisan political advantage, unconstrained by state law or constitutions. Read more»

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), gives opening remarks at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing for a nomination hearing for Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, on May 5, 2020.

Former Arizona U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini said he is stunned that federal agents seized the cellphone of Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) as part of an insider trading probe. Read more»

Display window at Cherished Memories, a keepsake ultrasound boutique at the Los Cerritos Center mall near Los Angeles.

The FDA has repeatedly urged pregnant women to avoid medically unnecessary ultrasounds, saying it is aware of “several enterprises” in the U.S. that perform ultrasounds on pregnant women for entertainment’s sake and then sell the images as keepsake photographs and videos. Read more»

Policymakers and insurers across the country say they are eliminating copayments, deductibles and other barriers to telemedicine for patients confined at home who need a doctor for any reason. But in a fragmented health system, the shift to cost-free telemedicine for patients is going far less smoothly than the speeches and press releases suggest. In some cases, doctors are billing for telephone calls that used to be free. Read more»

Carmen Lodato began advocating with gun control group Moms Demand Action after her mother was shot and killed in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2014. Advocates like her were instrumental in getting stricter gun laws implemented this year.

Taking time out from overseeing Virginia’s response to the pandemic, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam signed a slate of bills: requiring universal background checks on firearm purchases, restricting handgun purchases to one a month and allowing law enforcement to seize guns from people who may be a risk to themselves or others. Read more»

Fred Royal, the Milwaukee head of the NAACP, walks empty streets near his home in a largely black neighborhood hit hard by the coronavirus. He knows three people who have died.

Environmental, economic and political factors have compounded for generations, putting black people at higher risk of chronic conditions that leave lungs weak and immune systems vulnerable: asthma, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. These conditions make the coronavirus more dangerous than it already is. Read more»

A clinical lab technician at the UW Medicine Virology laboratory in Seattle processes patient samples for COVID-19 on March 11.

Distributed coronavirus tests are creating uneven health care results as rural and central U.S. health officials are better able to get a handle on the illnesses' spread than larger coastal cities. Read more»

Beth and Mikel Weisser, both teachers from Kingman, say being Democrats in heavily Republican northwestern Arizona can be lonely, making them glad to be at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Beth Weisser is a delegate.

With the GOP holding most state and congressional offices, it isn't always easy to be a Democrat in Arizona. That's one reason delegates are happy to be arriving in Charlotte, N.C., for the Democratic National Convention. They're set for a week of meetings, events and speeches. Read more»

The air traffic control tower at Tucson International Airport.

A 24-year-old Marine from North Carolina was arrested and charged with making bomb threats aboard an airliner as it was taxiing for departure from Tucson International Airport for Phoenix on Monday morning. Read more»

Last year, 52 percent of all employers offered domestic partner health benefits, with the percentage varying widely by region and industry. That’s up from 31 percent in 2010. Read more»

A couple prepares to exchange vows at City Hall in Manhattan on July 24.

Half of Americans support legalizing same-sex marriage, a slight drop from last year but the second year in a row that a majority of the country believes gay marriages should be recognized by law. Read more»

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