Georgia judge blocks rule requiring clerks to hand count number of ballots
A Georgia judge stopped a planned hand count of ballots on election night, ruling Tuesday that it would create “administrative chaos” if poll workers were required to handle millions of ballots without being trained. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney found that the controversial rule was “too much, too late” to implement for the 2024 election – which is less than three weeks away. “The public interest is not disserved by pressing pause here,” he wrote in his decision. “This election season is fraught; memories of Jan. 6 have not faded away, regardless of one’s view of that date’s fame or infamy. Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public.” LOCAL OFFICIALS FACE OFF AGAINST GEORGIA’S ELECTIONS BOARD OVER RULE THAT COULD SHAKE UP NOVEMBER McBurney said in his ruling that his decision was not final and would be further detailed at a later date, but not until after the election. “Our Boards of Election and Superintendents are statutorily obligated to ensure that elections are ’honestly, efficiently, and uniformly conducted,’” he said. “Failure to comply with statutory obligations such as these can result in investigation by the SEB, suspension or even criminal prosecution.” READ THE RULING – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: The rule, passed by the Republican State Election Board, was set to go into effect Oct. 22, just two weeks before the election, and after early voting in the Peach State is well underway. The rule, which McBurney temporarily halted, was pushed through in September on a 3-2 vote but prompted a lawsuit filed by Georgia Democratic officials. The rule would have required precinct poll managers and poll officers to unseal ballot boxes and count the ballots by hand individually to ensure the tallies match the machine-counted ballot totals. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Nearly half of Texas high school students who earn college credits are Hispanic, study says
Despite the group’s strong participation, Hispanic students graduate college at a lower rate than peers in the program, according to a report.
Texas’ voter rolls and noncitizens: What you need to know
A ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and Votebeat investigation found that Gov. Greg Abbott likely inflated the number of noncitizens on voter rolls.
Engineer Rashid makes BIG claim on abrogation of Article 370, says ‘PM Modi consulted Farooq, Omar Abdullah before…’
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Early voting begins in Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island
Five states join the rest of the country on Wednesday as they start the early voting process for the 2024 election. Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, Oregon and Rhode Island make a total of 49 states and Washington, D.C., that have begun early voting. Here’s how to cast a ballot in each state. WORKING CLASS WILL COME HOME TO HARRIS, RALLYGOERS IN POSTINDUSTRIAL PENNSYLVANIANS SAY Forever a battleground, reliably Democrat: That’s the story of Nevada’s presidential politics. The state has voted for every Democrat who has run for president since 1992, except the two elections with President Bush on the ballot. But the average margin across those eight elections is just 4.1 points. There are only six electoral votes at stake, but they could be crucial for either candidate. If Harris wins two of the battleground Rust Belt states but loses Pennsylvania, for example, then a combination of Nevada and North Carolina would make up for the deficit. Nevada is home to the “Reid Machine,” a voter turnout operation named after late Senate leader Harry Reid, that activates voters favorable to Democrats, especially Hispanic and unionized hospitality workers in the Las Vegas area. Those groups aren’t as overwhelmingly Democrat as they used to be. The party has shed 10 points worth of the Hispanic vote since 2020 and seven points of the non-college-educated vote. Voters backed a Republican for governor in 2022; that election came two years after the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the tourism industry. They held on to their Democrat senator. Republicans do well in the vast rural areas led by Lincoln County, where Trump won by 71 points in 2020, and the state’s northeastern counties. The battleground is Washoe County, home to Reno. Biden won there by 4.5 points in 2020, making it the state’s closest county. Nevada is a Toss Up in the Fox News Power Rankings. The Silver State also has a senate race on the ballot. Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen seeks a second term in office but faces Republican Army veteran Sam Brown. The Senate race is ranked Lean D. Finally, Iowa voters start heading to the polls today. Once a hotly competitive state, it voted for Trump by eight points in 2020. Iowa is one of several states dominated by White working-class voters who flipped to Trump in his first run for office and have not gone back. A recent Des Moines Register survey showing Harris four points behind Trump raised eyebrows, but it would take an extraordinary night for Harris to flip this one. Voting also begins today in four battleground House districts. For a full list of competitive races, see the latest Senate and House rankings. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Iowa. Iowa began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 21, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. PA TOWN ROILED BY TALK OF MIGRANT HOUSING IN CIVIL-WAR-ERA ORPHANAGE BUILDING Iowa offers early in-person voting beginning Oct. 16 and running through Nov. 4. Iowa residents can register to vote in person at any point during early voting or on Election Day. The deadline for online or mail registration is Oct. 21. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Kansas. Kansas began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials must receive a ballot request by Oct. 29, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. PENNSYLVANIA LEADERS IN BOTH PARTIES TALK GROUND GAME AS GOP SEEKS TO UNDO MASSIVE GAINS Some Kansas counties offer early in-person voting beginning Oct. 16, but other counties start later. Check the state’s website for more information. Kansas residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 15. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Nevada. Nevada began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials began actively sending absentee ballots to eligible voters on Wednesday, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Nevada will begin early in-person voting on Oct. 19, and it will continue through Nov. 1. Nevada residents can register online through Election Day, and they can register in person from Oct. 19 to Nov. 1 or in person on Election Day. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Oregon. Oregon began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. State officials began actively sending absentee ballots to eligible voters on Wednesday, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. Oregon does not offer in-person early voting. Oregon residents must have registered to vote by Oct. 15. This is a guide to registration and early voting. For comprehensive and up-to-date information on voter eligibility, processes and deadlines, please go to Vote.gov and the election website for Rhode Island. Rhode Island began absentee voting on Wednesday. Residents do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot. Residents must request a ballot by Oct. 15, and that ballot must be delivered to state officials by Nov. 5. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Rhode Island begins early in-person voting on Wednesday, and it will continue through Nov. 4. Rhode Island can register to vote in person on election day or during early voting. The deadline for online or by-mail registration was Oct. 6.
Unearthed report reveals powerful Harris ally ‘willing to share’ resources from Black businesses with CCP
FIRST ON FOX: A powerful ally of Vice President Kamala Harris, who she has praised as an “extraordinary leader” who exhibits “courageous leadership,” met with multiple CCP officials during a business trip to China, where he vowed to “[spread] the voice of Black businesses,” Fox News Digital has learned. Ron Busby, who has visited the Biden-Harris White House dozens of times and is the longtime president of the U.S. Black Chambers, met with several CCP officials during a previously unreported trip to China, a Fox News Digital review found. Busby traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an for a 10-day trip as part of a delegation of New York government officials and business leaders, including then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s chief diversity officer Rose Rodriguez, who were dubbed the “New Majority Alliance.” The delegation’s trip in September 2017 was supported by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York, a Chinese government entity in New York that serves as a mouthpiece for the CCP and was recently implicated in an unsealed indictment against a top former aide to New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. The New York in China Center, which has offices in New York and Shanghai, was the official sponsor of the trip. HARRIS VP PICK SPENT YEARS PROMOTING RESEARCH FACILITY THAT COLLABORATED WITH ‘CHINESE MILITARY COMPANY’ John Wang, who was recently appointed in August by New York City’s Democrat Mayor Eric Adams and currently serves on the board of directors for the Empire State Development Board after being nominated in 2022 by Hochul, established the New York in China Center in 2008 to “handle [the Asian American Business Development’s] business in China, New York in China Center facilitates business, investment, technology and cultural exchanges between New York and China…,” the group’s website says. Busby’s Facebook profile is littered with photos from the trip, which included a “selfie” of him flying to China with the caption, “On the way to China. Spreading the voice of Black businesses around the globe.” Another photo shows Busby and the rest of the delegation sitting around a table with the CCP hammer and sickle emblem on a sign behind them on the wall. After the trip, Busby said in a Facebook post that the United States, Africa, and China “need each other for the new sustainability.” “Two weeks ago we were in China and we did a similar memorandum of understanding [MOU] with Chinese Chamber of Commerce,” Busby said during the 2017 Essence Festival Durban Business Conference. “[China understands] the importance of being on the continent obviously, but they also understand that there needs to be a relationship between the people on the continent, and they understand that African Americans have a natural relationship here, and so we [three] will work together to bring their resources that they have along with the ingenuity, creativity that we have in the United States, to bring that here. Collectively, all three continents can grow, and they’re very excited as well as we are.” A 2022 “BLACKprint” report released by Busby’s “U.S. Black Chambers” touted “Black entrepreneurs” getting access to “global business opportunities” and said they have “signed Memorandum of Understandings with business leaders in Durban, Morocco, and China.” HARRIS CAMPAIGN SILENT ON HOUSE BILL BANNING CONTRACTS WITH ‘CHINESE MILITARY COMPANY’ AMID WALZ TIES Archived pages on the New York in China Center’s website show dozens of photos from the trip, including 3 separate reports highlighting the delegation’s meetings with CCP officials. Busby told Chinese officials that the “[U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.] administered more than 100 chambers, and he is willing to share and communicate the resources with Xi’an in various fields,” according to the Xi’an report reviewed by Fox News Digital. Busby’s position as the president of the U.S. Black Chambers makes him an influential business leader not only in the Black community, but he has been able to leverage his position to participate in meetings with top U.S. government officials, including President Biden, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Vice President Harris, among others on behalf of his group. Harris “hosted an exclusive reception at her private residence” in July of this year to honor Black business leaders, according to a press release. The reception was in partnership with U.S. Black Chambers, Inc and featured Busby, who said the reception was a “powerful acknowledgment of the remarkable progress Black business leaders have achieved in shaping our nation’s economic landscape.” Months earlier, Harris and Busby were in Detroit, Michigan for an economic recovery event, where Harris called Busby an “extraordinary leader” who has exhibited “courageous leadership.” Harris, who called Busby her “Oakland brother” during another event in 2021, will likely face scrutiny over the China trip “The delegation will meet with government leaders and representatives of the business community in China to have discussions over the topics including Sino-US technological innovation, business development, friendship agreements and other projects,” a press release highlighting the 2017 trip said. The press release went on to say that this trip was an opportunity “to build communication channels and networks for Chinese companies who are looking for development in the United States.” The Xi’an report also said the delegation met with “Li Yuan, the Vice Mayor of Xi’an. Huang Xiaohua-the Vice Secretary-General of Xi’an Provincial People’s Government, Xing Xin-Director of Xi’an Investment Cooperation Committee, Cai Lanfang-Vice President of Xi’an People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and other representatives.” Busby’s participation in a delegation meeting with a representative of People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries is likely to face scrutiny due to the U.S. government’s repeated warnings about the group over the years. In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a press statement warning it is a “Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments” that “has sought to directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda.” A 2022 report from the Biden administration’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI) also warned about the group and highlighted how U.S.-based Chinese consulates like the one sponsoring Busby’s
J-K: New CM Omar Abdullah optimistic about early restoration of statehood, says ‘have commitments from…’
Omar Abdullah took over as the first chief minister of J-K post abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories. He had earlier ruled the erstwhile state from 2008 to 2014.