Knox County judges granted emergency relief
The Indiana Supreme Court is enabling Knox County courts to call upon senior judges and local judges pro tempore to fill the vacancy created by the sudden death of Judge Ryan Johanningsmeier.
The Indiana Supreme Court is enabling Knox County courts to call upon senior judges and local judges pro tempore to fill the vacancy created by the sudden death of Judge Ryan Johanningsmeier.
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a motion to expedite the appeal of the challenge to the state’s restrictions on absentee balloting, rejecting Indiana’s request to pump the brakes.
The House Oversight Committee intends to subpoena Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for documents about disruptions in mail delivery operations that are now central to questions over the ability to handle an onslaught of mail-in ballots expected for the November election.
Indiana election officials are bracing for perhaps 10 times more mail-in ballots for this fall’s election than four years ago. The forecast comes as litigation over efforts to expand mail-in voting continue to play out in federal court.
The state of Indiana has been ordered to respond by Monday to an appeal in a federal lawsuit seeking no-excuse absentee voting in the Nov. 3 general election, signaling the appellate court in Chicago may fast-track the challenge over mail-in voting just over two months ahead of the election.
President Donald Trump blasted Joe Biden as a hapless career politician who will endanger Americans’ safety as he accepted his party’s renomination on the South Lawn of the White House. While the coronavirus kills 1,000 Americans each day, Trump defied his own administration’s pandemic guidelines to speak for more than an hour to a tightly packed, largely maskless crowd.
A federal appeals court is being asked to take an expedited appeal of a ruling against no-excuse absentee voting in Indiana’s Nov. 3 general election, or to enter an immediate injunction that would permit all Hoosiers to vote by mail due to the pandemic.
An attempt to allow all eligible Hoosiers to vote by mail in the November general election has been thwarted by a federal judge who ruled the limits on absentee balloting do not deny state residents their fundamental right to vote.
A Muncie city councilman could not persuade the Indiana Court of Appeals to determine on Friday that he is still eligible for the position after another candidate revealed that the councilman has a felony record.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, pressed by senators over campaign season mail disruptions, said Friday he was unaware of some recent changes by his agency until they sparked a public uproar. But he also said he has no plans to restore mailboxes or high-speed sorting machines that have been removed.
Joe Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination with a vow to be a unifying “ally of the light” who would move an America in crisis past the chaos of President Donald Trump’s tenure.
As Indiana celebrates 100 years of suffrage, Hoosier women are reflecting on the efforts taken by their predecessors to secure equal rights for future generations, from the right to vote to continuing efforts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.
As part of another lawsuit challenging Indiana’s election laws, Common Cause Indiana and the Indiana State Conference of the NAACP are seeking a preliminary injunction to suspend the noon Election Day deadline for county officials to receive completed mail-in ballots.
Hoosier voters in November will decided whether seven Indiana appellate judges should retain their positions for the next 10 years. A Supreme Court justice, the chief judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals and five other appellate jurists are on the fall retention ballot.
Indiana Disability Rights and the Indiana Statewide Independent Living Council have joined the fight to push Indiana to expand mail-in voting for the November 2020 general election, saying requiring in-person voting during the COVID-19 pandemic would put the health of disabled Hoosiers at greater risk.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the House back into session over the crisis at the U.S. Postal Service, setting up a political showdown amid growing concerns that the Trump White House is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election.
The Indiana Election Commission on Friday voted against a proposal to expand absentee voting by mail to all voters for the November election. The 2-2 deadlock comes as lawsuits seek to expand mail-in voting with COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in the Hoosier State.
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is urging Gov. Eric Holcomb to call a special session of the Indiana General Assembly to focus on addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Hill joins legislative Democrats who have also called for a special session to address the pandemic and potentially other issues.
Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and other state officials defended brick-and-mortar school reopenings Wednesday despite mounting reports of students and education staff testing positive for the coronavirus since returning to school statewide. The governor also resisted calls to expand voting by mail in the November general election.