By Bill Lucia | Editor
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority is allowing the Trump administration to move forward with plans to restrict mail-in voting ahead of the November midterms. An unsigned emergency opinion issued yesterday said the administration is likely to prevail in its argument that 23 Democratic-led states lack standing to stop President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to change how the U.S. Postal Service processes mailed ballots. But the court fight is not over, and the justices left open the possibility that the order could be unconstitutional. Election Day is a little more than two months away.
Also in today’s edition…
The state’s newest Fish and Wildlife commissioner has died.
Washington’s low rate of immigrants taken into federal custody from jail.
And, an Alaskan village where gas is over $20 a gallon.
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(Photo by Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
By Ashley Murray
The March 31 executive order at the heart of the mail-in ballot case directs the Postal Service to oversee a redesign of ballot envelopes, including adding a unique barcode. It also asks USPS to collect voters’ names and addresses from states and instructs the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute state officials who violate the order.
Whether an overhaul of mail-in ballots for each state could be completed in time for the Nov. 3 election remains to be seen, as vote-by-mail documents are sent to voters well in advance of Election Day.
In a dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the majority’s ruling “needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty” into the midterms. The principle of courts not altering voting systems near elections has been eroded, she said, amounting to a “Kafkaesque nightmare.”
Democratic state leaders here in Washington, including the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, remain opposed to Trump’s order. Gov. Bob Ferguson called the Supreme Court’s decision “terrible.” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs panned the idea of “implementing unnecessary federal requirements just weeks before ballots are mailed.”
Victor Garcia, who was appointed to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission last year, has died. (Photo courtesy of Department of Fish and Wildlife)
By Jerry Cornfield
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Victor Garcia has died. The Department of Fish and Wildlife announced his death Monday. No cause was provided. “He was ready to do the hard work, and he will be missed,” said Commission Chair Jim Anderson. Gov. Bob Ferguson appointed Garcia last year after rejecting two nominees named by his predecessor, Jay Inslee. Garcia described himself as having a range of outdoor interests, such as hunting, fishing and birdwatching. “I’m a hunter, but I’m also in Audubon,” he told the Standard last year. “I’ve gone all over the world to view specific birds. But, every now and then, I do hunt some of them.” The nine-member panel has been going through a turbulent chapter. It’ll be up to Ferguson to appoint a replacement.
By Tim Henderson
Washington, along with Oregon, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, is among the states with the lowest rates of immigration arrests in jail, according to a new analysis. The states all have strict “sanctuary” policies that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Between the start of President Trump’s second term and early March this year, about 17% of immigrants taken into federal custody in Washington were arrested in jails. That’s compared to states like Texas and Florida, where the figure was 55.6% and 69.7%, respectively. Those states cooperate more readily with the federal government on immigration enforcement.
By James Brooks
Gasoline prices in Washington have been high this year compared to much of the country, but costs at the pump in the Alaska village of Shungnak are on another level. There, late last week, a gallon of gas was selling for $26. “It is very much real,” said Glenda Douglas, who manages the store in Shungnak and posted a picture of the price on Facebook. “We had to get gas flown in twice this summer since (the) barge isn’t able to make it this way because the river water levels (are) too low,” Douglas later explained.
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ICYMI
WA youth prison leader was fired after harassment probe | by Jake Goldstein-Street
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