skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

WY Group Working to Make Sure All Votes Count

play audio
Play

Wednesday, November 4, 2020   

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the ACLU has filed 14 lawsuits to ensure that all eligible voters in Wyoming and across the nation have the option to vote safely by mail, and the nonpartisan group says it isn't backing down now.

Janna Farley, communications director for the ACLU's Wyoming chapter said all votes deserve to be counted, even though it may take longer this year, since more people voted by absentee ballot.

"We're going to do everything we can to make sure that everyone's vote is counted, and it should be," she said, "and we should want everyone's vote to be counted, because that's the democratic process. That's what the United States is all about."

Wyoming's final count is expected to be certified officially on time, but Farley said patience will be key for voters awaiting official counts in states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania. According to the Keystone Research Center, it took six days to count mail-in votes for Pennsylvania's June primary and three weeks to certify the results.

Despite President Donald Trump's claims that mailed ballots could lead to widespread voter fraud, Americans -- including military personnel stationed overseas -- have been voting by mail safely for decades. Farley said count delays largely are due to extra steps required by election officials. For example, the signature on each ballot has to be verified independently for security purposes.

"And that's why it takes so long to process these absentee ballots," she said, "but there are security measures applied to absentee ballots returned by mail, just as there are security measures applied to people voting in person on Election Day."

Farley said ensuring that all votes are counted is worth the wait, in part because official election results never have been tallied and certified on election night. Historically, when news outlets announced election results, they've been projections based not on official vote tallies but data including early voting results and exit polls.

The American Civil Liberties Union is one of the groups that says it's committed to ensuring that all votes cast in the 2020 general election are counted. Eric Galatas (guh-LATT-us) has more.

---

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021