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Chicago's 12-language ballots make elections 'harder to monitor,' Illinois GOP chair warns
Chicago voters can cast ballots in 12 different languages this election, an expansion that Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan warns is making an already complicated election system harder to independently monitor.
Grogan told Fox News Digital the proliferation of versions in languages such as Tagalog, Gujarati and Urdu creates additional challenges for election judges and party observers tasked with ensuring voters receive accurate ballots. He also questioned how many voters need some of the translations, arguing that many immigrants who speak those languages also speak English.
"It's a solution in search of a problem," Grogan told Fox News Digital. "It's big city virtue signaling."
TRUMP ADMIN SUED OVER ALLEGED ILLEGAL COLLECTION OF SENSITIVE VOTER DATA FROM 47 STATES
Chicago voters can cast ballots in 12 different languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, Polish, Gujarati, Urdu, Ukrainian, Arabic and Russian.
Section 203 of the U.S. Voting Rights Act requires the Chicago Board of Elections to make materials and ballots available in certain precincts for Spanish, Chinese and Hindi speakers, a spokesperson for the elections agency told Fox News Digital. The Board includes the other non-English languages to "maintain uniformity with the languages used by the Cook County Clerk's office under a county ordinance, so that all voters throughout Cook County are afforded equal voting opportunities," the spokesperson added.
But Grogan, a former DuPage County auditor for 12 years, said he has "a fair number of Gujarati friends ... and everyone in their family speaks English."
"Gujarati — it's from India, and English is an official language in India," Grogan added.
TRUMP ADMIN'S PROPOSED 'ENGLISH-ONLY' HEAD START RULE DRAWS FIRE FROM LOS ANGELES MAYORAL CANDIDATE
Data provided to Fox News Digital by the Chicago Board of Elections shows that some of the less commonly used language options accounted for only a handful of ballots cast during the March primary. Just nine ballots were cast using the English-Gujarati option, while 15 used English-Urdu, 10 used English-Arabic and 25 each used English-Russian and English-Ukrainian, according to the Board's figures.
Other translations were used more frequently, including 4,474 English-Polish ballots, 2,183 English-Chinese ballots, 664 English-Hindi ballots, 352 English-Korean ballots and 100 English-Tagalog ballots.
Grogan also questioned why language requirements can change substantially across county lines, noting that Chicago offers touchscreen ballots in 12 languages while nearby DuPage County offers fewer language options.
"You can have a Gujarati population in Peoria," Grogan said. "You would think that there would be some more uniformity to all of that as well."
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Beyond questioning the need for some of the translations, Grogan raised a broader concern about oversight, arguing that election judges and party observers cannot independently scrutinize ballots written in languages they do not understand.
However, the Chicago Board of Elections pushed back, telling Fox News Digital that it has in-house staff who help translate ballots and signs and assist multilingual media ahead of elections. It also said voters are allowed to bring "interpreter[s] to assist them in understanding and casting their ballot" under certain conditions.
When asked about multilingual judges, the Board noted that of the 7,218 election judges assigned for November's general election as of Thursday, 810 are multilingual candidates. Those multilingual judges include speakers of Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Polish, Korean and Tagalog, according to the Board.
Pressed on whether he believes the additional languages create an election security vulnerability, Grogan said the risk depends in part on how widely the translated ballots are used.
Overall, the Board's figures show 7,857 multilingual ballots were cast during the March primary, representing about 1.85% of the 424,564 ballots cast citywide.
"I think it certainly makes it harder to monitor," Grogan said. "If there is one ballot cast in that language, that's a very small vulnerability you have. If all of a sudden we have 10,000 in some very small, poorly understood language, then that increases the risk."
Fox News Digital asked the Chicago Board of Elections how many languages are available for mail-in ballots but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Sheriff says evidence 'leaning one way' in shooting deaths of disabled toddler and grandparents: report
Mystery is surrounding the deaths of a toddler and his two grandparents after the three of them were discovered dead by investigators.
It happened inside a home in Gnadenhutten, Ohio. The Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office confirmed deputies responded to a 911 call where "a voice softly says the word 'help'" on Wednesday, the agency said in a release.
They arrived to find Kozzar Lotut, who was just 22 months old, Melissa Campbell, 51, and Gale Sanders, 67, deceased with apparent gunshot wounds. Fox News Digital confirmed their identities with the Tuscarawas Coroner's Office.
RETIRED POLICE SERGEANT SHOOTS DEPUTY CHIEF WIFE AND THEIR DAUGHTER IN WEALTHY, COASTAL ENCLAVE HOME
The deaths are being investigated as a murder-suicide, according to Sheriff Orvis L. Campbell.
"Right now, if I had to say the evidence was leaning one way, it’s definitely leaning towards a murder-suicide. We’re pretty confident, you know, that it happened within the home," he told WOIO.
The toddler's grandparents cared for the baby, who had "medical disabilities" he said.
FORMER CORRECTIONS OFFICER ACCUSED OF KILLING WIFE, FORCING KIDS TO HELP
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Campbell appeared to work as a registered nurse at New Philadelphia Health Care Center in Ohio before her death.
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As for how deputies made the grim discovery – first responders had difficulty tracing the 911 call when it first came through.
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The unnamed caller originally dialed 911 and hung up. Dispatchers tried to call the line back several times – and in one of those calls someone picked up and softly said the word "help."
Through investigative efforts deputies eventually traced the line back to a home on Cherry Street in the small community.
It was a great grandmother who opened the door and let investigators inside.
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Bodies of the three victims were taken to the Tuscarawas County Coroner's Office for autopsies, where manner and cause of death are still "pending."
"Additional information will be released as it becomes available and as appropriate," the Coroner's Office said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to American Medical Administrators, which operates New Philadelphia Health Care Center, and the Sheriff's Office for comment.
Ex-FBI officials arrested in Hunter Biden laptop probe as testimony comes under scrutiny
The Department of Justice charged two former FBI officials with lying to Congress about their involvement in FBI investigations into Hunter Biden, including matters involving his laptop.
Former FBI officials Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides, according to the DOJ, falsely denied involvement in the investigations into former President Joe Biden’s son when speaking to Congress. Both surrendered Friday on arrest warrants, according to the DOJ.
"Lying to Congress by anyone strikes at the heart of our democratic system, but when senior FBI agents lie to Congress believing they are above the law, it’s time to bring the hammer of justice down on them," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said of the charges.
"When senior officials entrusted with safeguarding our nation’s security choose deception over duty, they undermine the very institutions they swore to uphold. Today’s action makes clear that no one is above the law, and we will hold accountable all who obstruct the truth."
FBI CO-DEPUTY DIRECTOR ANDREW BAILEY RESIGNS AFTER YEAR IN ROLE
The Justice Department claims to possess evidence that shows Benavides discussed the laptop story with others in the FBI, contradicting his testimony that he learned about the story from Wikipedia. Similarly, the department says that it has evidence Floris discussed Hunter Biden with members of the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, despite testifying to the contrary.
"Nikki Floris is a patriot. She served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years. Yet today, the DOJ has accused her falsely of a crime on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts. It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election," her attorneys said in a statement.
RUSSIAN SPIES ORCHESTRATED $40K MURDER PLOT IN NATION’S CAPITAL, US ALLEGES
"This morning the FBI arrested two former FBI members of the now dissolved Foreign Influence Task Force, Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, both of whom allegedly lied to Congress in 2023 on matters regarding investigations related to the 2020 election," FBI Director Kash Patel said of the arrests. "One of these individuals is on record privately claiming to be ‘running a shadow government’ during the 2020 election. As we’ve said repeatedly: weaponization will never be tolerated at this FBI."
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Climate lawfare's back-channel campaign, and how you'll pay the bill
In The Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton famously promised that the federal judiciary would have "neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment." The climate lawfare movement has spent the better part of a decade trying to prove Hamilton wrong.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, in which Boulder seeks to use Colorado public nuisance law to make two energy companies pay for the effects of global climate change.
The case is the culmination of a long campaign.
SUPREME COURT BEGINS NEW TERM WITH HIGH-PROFILE LOOK AT CLEAN AIR AND FEDERAL AUTHORITY
A small, well-funded network of climate activists, convinced that drastic action is needed to save the planet and frustrated that their fellow citizens have not voted to dismantle the fossil-fuel industry, have turned to state and local courts after the Supreme Court unanimously shut down federal climate-nuisance suits in 2011’s American Electric Power v. Connecticut. Their strategy rests on a single premise: When the front door of democracy is closed, try the courthouse back door.
But thanks to documents released September 30 by the House Judiciary Committee, we no longer have to guess. One of the movement’s architects put the strategy in writing.
CLIMATE SEMINARS FOR JUDGES FACE FUNDING TRAIL PROBE AMID FEARS OF OUTSIDE INFLUENCE ON COURTS
"It seemed to me that without legislative or executive action to address the climate problem, real government action might still be derived from court decisions," Paul Hanle wrote in a May 2022 email. Hanle founded the Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project, which has put at least 140 federal judges through its climate "education" seminars. In the same email, he laid out CJP’s strategy to target "key judges" with seminars, hoping to "make a great difference in the final outcome of cases."
The crown jewel was the judges’ own science manual. In December 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine invited Michael Burger to write the climate chapter of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, the federal judiciary’s go-to science guide. Burger runs Columbia’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and is of counsel at Sher Edling, a firm representing many of the cities and counties suing oil companies. The Federal Judicial Center balked, citing his litigation work.
CHINA-LINKED GREEN GROUP TRAINING US JUDGES DRAWS FRESH HEAT AS FOREIGN TIES FUEL PRESSURE AT HOME
The next day, Burger told his Sabin Center colleagues, the chapter’s eventual named authors, that he’d "be happy to contribute behind the scenes." Within weeks, one of them was circulating a draft with "Mike’s edits" and revising the legal section in response to his comments. Soon after the manual was published, the FJC withdrew the climate chapter. The National Academies finally followed suit in August.
Why all the stealth? Because climate plaintiffs have a causation problem they cannot solve in the open.
SUPREME COURT CAN RESTORE SANITY AND STOP THE LEFT’S RADICAL CLIMATE AGENDA
At the Suncor Energy oral argument, Justice Elena Kagan told the oil companies’ lawyer, "Well, you sound like you have a very good causation argument." She meant it as a brush-off; she immediately questioned why causation should matter for preemption.
But Kagan is right: No climate plaintiff has a good causation argument. Greenhouse gases mix globally, and about 90 percent of emissions occur outside the United States. Tying a drought in Boulder to any particular company’s barrels of oil is simply not possible.
ECO-WARRIORS WANT TO TURN UP THE HEAT ON YOUR WALLET TO FUND THEIR CLIMATE AGENDA
That is why the climate lawfare movement needs judges to swallow "extreme event attribution." Boulder’s trial court has already shown what the endgame looks like, declaring, "in a multiple contributor tort case, there is no need to tie specific injuries to the actions of defendants." If you can’t meet the standard, lower it.
This is precisely what the Constitution’s structure exists to prevent: a small minority weaponizing federalism to impose its policy preferences on the entire nation. One county cannot regulate the world. If Boulder prevails, the companies’ lawyer warned, some 90,000 municipalities could make national energy policy through jury awards. Pressed by Justice Clarence Thomas at oral argument, Boulder’s lawyer conceded that "nothing in our theory" prevents suing retailers too.
WAVE OF OVERLOOKED 'LEFT-WING' LAWSUITS COULD COME WITH AN UNEXPECTED PRICE TAG FOR AMERICANS
And it won’t stop with oil companies. The Climate Judiciary Project’s own curriculum for judges shows where this is headed. One module touts "source attribution" studies tracing nearly two-thirds of all carbon dioxide emitted since the 1750s to 90 fossil-fuel and cement producers. Then it turns to the dinner table: "Though its members have not yet been named as defendants in climate change lawsuits, the heavily concentrated industrial animal agriculture industry also has been subjected to source attribution analysis." Note the word "yet."
The module is candid about the point of the exercise. These studies take an alleged problem that could be attributed to "several billion past and present human individuals" and reduces it "to one driven by a few dozen companies," which makes climate change "appear to be more amenable to traditional tort law adjudication." This is regulation by litigation, pure and simple. Punish the companies that supply Americans’ fuel, food and building materials, and every family pays the bill at the pump and the grocery store. [A1]
Chief Justice John Roberts cut to the heart of the matter: "Isn’t your suit an attempt to evade those decisions?" He meant the Court’s long line of cases treating interstate air pollution as a matter of federal law, which Justice Brett Kavanaugh had called "a wall of precedent." Kavanaugh then read aloud from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s opinion in AEP: Federal judges "lack the scientific, economic, and technological resources" to set emissions policy. If that is true of federal judges, Kavanaugh asked, doesn’t it apply to "a six-person state jury in Boulder?"
Take it from Ginsburg herself. Greenhouse-gas regulation, she wrote, "cannot be prescribed in a vacuum." It demands weighing environmental benefits against "our Nation’s energy needs and the possibility of economic disruption."
The climate lawfare complex lost at the ballot box. It lost in AEP. So its backers went behind the scenes—into judicial seminars and judges’ own science manual. Enough already. The Supreme Court should shut the courthouse door for good.
This gift-worthy smart meat thermometer is at its lowest price ever — save $100
A CHEF iQ meat thermometer takes the stress out of cooking. Originally priced at $180, it's now just $80 — its lowest price ever. Just insert the probe into your meat of choice and monitor its temperature from your phone, making this thermometer a useful addition to your upcoming Thanksgiving meal or a thoughtful gift for the home cook in your life.
Original price: $179.99
At $80, the CHEF iQ thermometer is at its lowest price ever. It tracks meat temperatures, sending updates to a convenient app for a more hands-off cooking experience. The app has hundreds of presets for most proteins and video recipes, so there's no guesswork needed.
It can easily withstand high temperatures, making it helpful for grilling or slow roasting. The thin probes help prevent juices from leaking out. Cleanup is quick: simply throw the probes in the dishwasher.
The probes use Wi-Fi to keep you connected. Reviewers had mixed opinions on the Wi-Fi range, but as long as you're close to home, you should be good to go.
Set audio notifications through the Smart Hub, or turn on push notifications and receive alerts through your phone. That way, you can keep track of your food while tackling other household tasks.
READ MORE: Gifts for men who say they don't want anything (but really do)
With the holiday season fast approaching, now's the time to grab this thermometer for the home cooks and grill masters in your life. It's at its lowest price ever, saving you $100.
It goes beyond a standard meat thermometer by using Wi-Fi to let you monitor your food from anywhere. The probes connect to the app, so you don't have to keep getting up to check your meal's progress.
Many reviewers said the meat thermometer made their lives easier when grilling or roasting food in the oven.
"Love the CHEF iQ probes," a reviewer said. "[I] used them [for the] first time this week, and they quickly charged and paired with my phone app for the perfect cooking of my bone-in rib eye."
"This thing is crazy good! The build quality is great, and the app is very well-designed," another reviewer said. "I can even give 5 stars to the support team for quickly handling the warranty exchange!"
Convenience is also a big theme in the nearly 200 reviews.
"Since it is Wi-Fi, you can monitor from anywhere," a five-star reviewer said. "Just put the receiver next to the smoker where it has a good Wi-Fi signal and set the temps you want to monitor and it will send you alerts. [The] probe battery was still 3–4 bars out of 5 after 18 hours, so [it has] very good battery life."
"So convenient that you see the temp on your phone," said a reviewer. "[It] tells you when to turn the meat and accurately predicts how much cooking time is left."
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A few reviewers, who had generally good experiences, did mention a few things worth noting, namely the Wi-Fi connectivity.
"The app is great, connectivity is never a problem for me. Just remember to leave the base close to the probes [since] the probes have a weak transmitter. The base has a much stronger transmitter," one reviewer said.
One reviewer noted the white ambient probe was difficult to clean because of smoke residue, while the other colored probes cleaned up more easily.
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If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can get this meat thermometer sent to your door ASAP. You can join or start a 30-day free trial to start your shopping today.
Frustrated cruise passengers push back as popular line rolls out new drink prices
Cruise passengers could soon pay different prices for drinks and Wi-Fi depending on when and where they sail.
Carnival Cruise Line announced that it will introduce dynamic pricing for its beverage packages and Wi-Fi plans beginning Dec. 1. Prices will vary based on the length of the cruise, itinerary and season, according to the company.
The change was disclosed near the bottom of an announcement on Oct. 14 that largely focused on Carnival's new "FunPacks," which bundle several cruise extras into one pre-cruise purchase.
AMERICA'S BIGGEST BUFFET CHAIN CRACKED THE CODE TO ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT PROFITS
The dynamic pricing will apply only to individual beverage and Wi-Fi packages, Carnival told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"Importantly, once a guest purchases a package, their confirmed price is locked in and will not change even if pricing is adjusted later," the company said.
More broadly, dynamic pricing is a strategy in which prices can change based on factors such as supply and demand, competitor pricing and available inventory, according to a blog post from Harvard Business School.
The cruise line said the changes will provide passengers with "greater flexibility and more options for tailoring their Carnival vacation experience."
MAJOR CRUISE LINE HIKES ITS POPULAR PACKAGE PRICES IN MOVE THAT COULD HIT VACATION BUDGETS
The move quickly drew reaction from cruise passengers online, with some questioning whether the new system could make budgeting for a trip more complicated.
"I've never heard a single person that was happy about dynamic pricing," one Reddit user commented.
Another traveler had a more direct concern.
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"Who's wishing for more complications on vacation?" the person wrote.
"I officially dropped Carnival for the rest of my life," said another person.
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Others said the approach could make sense depending on how Carnival ultimately sets its prices.
One commenter suggested beverage packages could potentially cost less on longer or more port-heavy cruises, while Wi-Fi prices could vary differently depending on the length of the trip.
"I have no issue with this," one Reddit user wrote. "We’d be more open to it if it were dynamic pricing."
Fox News Digital previously reported on another cruise line changing the price of popular vacation extras.
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Princess Cruises raised the cost of its Plus and Premier packages by $5 per person per day beginning Oct. 13, bringing the standard rates to $70 and $105 per day, respectively.
The cruise line also changed its standalone Wi-Fi options, retiring its four-device plan and introducing a two-device package for $39.99 per day.
Single-device internet purchased onboard increased to $39.99 for 24 hours or $33.99 per day when purchased for the entire sailing.
Princess told Fox News Digital at the time it periodically reviews package prices based on changes in its operating environment while aiming to offer guests value by bundling popular amenities.
Jessica Mekles of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.
LeBron James doubles down with sneaky golf hip turns during national anthem after Trump's 'total disgrace' dig
Hours after President Donald Trump ripped his national anthem golf swing antics, LeBron James appeared to double down by working on his golf hip turns during Thursday's night's anthem before the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In what was a clear shot back at Trump, LeBron, who wouldn't dare disrespect the Chinese anthem, was seen standing normally during the national anthem before sending a signal back to Trump that sure looked like hip turns that golfers would use during warmups.
The Philadelphia Inquirer called hip turns "stretching." The golf world knows better.
TRUMP BLASTS LEBRON JAMES AS A 'TOTAL DISGRACE' OVER HIS NATIONAL ANTHEM ANTICS DURING 76ERS DEBUT
Earlier Thursday, Trump unleashed on the Chinese sympathizer.
"While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country! I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "LeBron James should apologize to all of those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag, and all that our Country stands for!"
This is the video that had Trump, a noted golfer fanatic himself, fuming mad.
During a campaign stop Thursday night, Trump continued to hammer away. "What about LeBron James? Did you see that deal?" Trump asked voters in Iowa. "He's practicing his golf swing. I said, what the hell is that? I don't understand it."
"Slow news day at the office," LeBron said after the game when asked about Trump's Truth Social post that clearly got his attention.
Kristin Cavallari cut father out of her life after he crossed ‘major line’ involving her kids
Kristin Cavallari cut her father out of her life after he crossed an unforgivable line with her children and revealed he never made a single attempt to repair their fractured relationship.
The former reality star opened up about the bitter family fallout on her podcast, "Let's Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari."
"I cut my dad out of my life because he crossed a major line — a major line — and it involved my kids, and you don't get to do that actually, you know? And that's another boundary and really obviously pissed him off, and he's never once tried to get back into my life, which I think is pretty telling," she said.
KRISTIN CAVALLARI SAYS SHE LEARNED A PAINFUL $250K LESSON INVOLVING HER FATHER AT 22
While Cavallari doesn't speak to her dad, she said she doesn't hold a grudge either.
"I would never wanna carry that around of like, ‘F--- my dad,’ you know? I think what he did to my kids was pretty bad," she explained. "But also my kids and I have talked about it a million times, and we've worked through it, but [it] like really affected them and will probably have affected them for the rest of their lives and, and none of us, my kids included, are carrying around anger towards him."
"And actually, my dad will text my kids periodically and that's fine. I'm not stopping that."
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But Cavallari wasn't about to let her bitter family feud dictate her children's relationship with their grandfather. Despite cutting her father out of her own life, the former reality star insisted she wouldn't force her kids to follow in her footsteps.
"If they wanna have a relationship with him, I want my kids to," Cavallari explained. "That's their choice."
The "Laguna Beach" star has never shared details of the incident that went down between her father and her children.
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Cavallari shares three kids with former NFL star Jay Cutler. The two are parents to daughter Saylor and sons Jaxon and Camden. Cutler and Cavallari announced their divorce in 2020.
The reality TV star first opened up about cutting her father out of her life on her own podcast in 2023.
Cavallari later compared her marriage with Cutler to her relationship with her father.
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"I was repeating a pattern with my dad," she told Bunnie XO on her podcast, "Dumb Blonde."
"I hadn't done the work on my relationship with my dad. That's what you do. I ended up marrying my dad," she said. "And so it really forced me to then work through my s---, which is what I did. So when we got a divorce for the last five years, quite honestly, I've really taken the time to get my s--- together so that I don't then make the same mistake."
College football team draws embarrassingly small crowd for what turns into Thursday night thriller
What an amazing night of football we got Thursday night, huh?
The Bears beat the Patriots in a thriller in Chicago, and we had two overtime games down in the college ranks. Appalachian State upset JMU, 34-31, in Boone, while East Carolina blew a double-digit lead in Memphis en route to a 41-34 loss.
Those are the nights we dream about during the dog days of summer, folks. When you're sitting through another insufferable WNBA game in July, just a reminder that you're GRINDING away for fall nights like we got on Thursday.
They're the best, and they don't stick around for long. We get maybe a dozen of them a year if we're a lucky. Last night was one of them. I hope you all took advantage.
Now, you know one fanbase who did not take advantage of last night's glorious fall night of football? The so-called "fans" of the Memphis Tigers, who apparently forgot the fellas were scheduled to play on Thursday this week.
Take a look:
Goodness gracious. The "official" box score lists last night's attendance at over 27,000. Surely it filled in a bit after kickoff, but I don't see how they got to 27K. Seems ambitious to me.
It's a bad look. There's no way around it, and no reason to sugarcoat it. It's just a bad look for Memphis and its fans.
"But Zach, it was a Thursday night!"
So? What does that mean? Are the kids not allowed to go to Thursday night games? Is there a rule in Memphis that says fans and students can only attend Saturday games?
"But Zach, it was East Carolina!"
OK. And? The Tigers are a 5-2 team and still very much alive for a playoff spot. I know they lost last week to Tulane, which certainly dealt them a blow, but it's the G6. Anything can happen down there.
TENNESSEE FANS DRANK $1.3 MILLION WORTH OF ALCOHOL BEFORE, DURING TEXAS GAME ATTENDED BY PRESIDENT
You'd like to think a 5-2 Division I college football team would draw a bigger crowd than the local Moose Lodge for the Sunday brunch buffet.
"Stop picking on us, Zach. There were a bunch of games last night. Surely we weren't the only no-shows!"
Actually ...
Different worlds, folks.
Choose your fighter(s).
Jackson again publicly breaks with Supreme Court as justices side with GOP in last-minute voter ID fight
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the lone public dissenter in a Thursday decision allowing New Hampshire to block the use of student ID cards in the upcoming midterm elections.
Other justices on the court cited the longstanding precedent "that lower federal courts should ordinarily not alter the election rules on the eve of an election," and said that lower courts failed to argue that the specific case in New Hampshire warranted an exception to the tradition. Jackson, however, argued the proximity to an election should not get in the way of properly applying the law.
"I respectfully dissent because — even, and perhaps especially, when an election is looming — I would not disturb a clearly justifiable federal-court order issued to ensure that the public receives accurate information about a State’s electoral processes," she wrote.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS INDIANA BAN ON STUDENT ID FOR VOTING
The underlying dispute stems from a law signed in April that went into effect in June, striking student ID cards from the list of forms of identification that election officials can accept when an individual requests a ballot. A voting rights group sued New Hampshire on the grounds that the law illegally discriminated against young voters by making it more difficult for them to vote.
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan then issued guidance saying that student IDs could not be used to establish voter identity, even as supporting evidence under the state's alternative verification procedures. A district judge blocked that portion of the guidance, arguing that it went beyond the scope of the law itself, which only removed student IDs from the list of expressly accepted forms of identification.
Among the supporters of the guidance was the Republican National Committee.
DEMS HAND GOP FRESH MIDTERM WEAPON BY OPPOSING WIDELY USED VOTER ID
While Jackson was the lone public dissenter, it is possible that other justices dissented as well, but opted not to be named on the court order. During her roughly four years on the Supreme Court, Jackson has broken from the rest of her colleagues in areas such as campaign finance, immigration and congressional map litigation.
In 2023, she was the lone dissenter in an 8-1 ruling allowing a concrete company to sue striking union workers. She also stood alone in a May 2026 decision involving federal prisoners seeking to challenge their convictions through compassionate release.
TRUMP SCORES SUPREME COURT WIN IN ELECTION INTEGRITY FIGHT AS STATES GAIN NEW VOTER ROLL TOOL
New Hampshire is holding a handful of close races on Election Day, putting some weight behind the court’s decision. Fox News’ power rankings rate the state’s Senate race as leans Democratic, meaning that liberals have a slight advantage in a race that could decide control of Congress. The state’s governor’s race, meanwhile, is rated as likely going to the GOP.
College students typically favor the Democratic Party, though it is unclear how many voters will be affected by the court ruling, as students who previously relied on their student IDs will now need another accepted form of identification.
Some Democrats, however, believe allowing voters to use student IDs would be a good thing. Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, for instance, has pushed for such a thing in his state.