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The year of the voter Nov 02, 2020

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How a chaotic year resulted in sky-high voter turnout. And, how Democrats are trying to win back rural votes in the Midwest.
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The year of the vote: How Americans surmounted a pandemic and dizzying rule changes so their voices would be heard.
Can Biden compete in Trump’s rural strongholds? Democrats hope so.
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Keeping up with the Boneses Oct 31, 2020

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Maura Judkis explains 2020’s peculiar Halloween phenomenon: the mad dash for Home Depot’s decorative 12-foot-tall plastic skeletons. Subscribe to The Washington Post: https://postreports.com/offer

Will our democracy survive this election? Oct 30, 2020

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The decline of democracy in the United States. Lessons from 150 books about President Trump and his time in office. And, the rise of Sarah Cooper.
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On multiple occasions, President Trump has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if former vice president Joe Biden wins the election. That concerns a lot of people, including Sarah Repucci, vice president of research and analysis at Freedom House, an organization that studies democracies around the world.
“Democracy is not an end point that you reach and you achieve it and then you don’t have to worry any more,” Repucci says. “Democracy is something that needs to be cultivated and something that needs to be cared for. And our democracy has not been cared for over the past number of years.”
Nonfiction book critic Carlos Lozada has read a lot of books about Trump. This year, he took everything he learned from those books, and captured it in a book of his own, called “What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era.” He talked with Lillian Cunningham, host of the podcast “Presidential,” about those lessons.
In the spring, Sarah Cooper went viral for lip-syncing to Trump on TikTok. And with a sitcom in development and a Netflix special on the way, arts reporter Geoff Edgers says the comic won’t be going back to her day job anytime soon.
Our colleagues at The Washington Post podcast “Can He Do That?” have spent the better part of four years reporting on the Trump presidency. They have a new series out this week about the ways that the Trump administration’s policies and rhetoric have contributed to a more sharply divided country.
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Q-tips, generators and a prayer: How to run an election Oct 29, 2020

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What it’s like to run an election in a pandemic. Also, the French president’s crusade to reform Islam.
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Chris Anderson is a Florida election official. In the weeks leading up to Nov. 3, he has been trying to administer an election safely, securely and as smoothly as possible. The tools of his trade: 101,000 Q-tips from a local Dollar Tree, a phone constantly pinging with text messages, and an election supervisor’s prayer that begs, “We don’t care who wins — just don’t let it be close.”
Another gruesome terrorist attack in France has intensified anti-Muslim sentiment. Instead of fighting systemic racism, France wants to “reform Islam.”
Our colleagues at The Washington Post podcast “Can He Do That?” have spent the better part of four years reporting on the Trump presidency. They have a new series out this week about the ways that the Trump administration’s policies and rhetoric have contributed to a more sharply divided country.
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Can we trust polling in battleground states? Oct 28, 2020

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A snapshot of what’s happening in key battleground states. What we can and can’t learn from polling. And a complicated end to the World Series.
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Reporters Jenna Johnson and Amy Gardner have been closely watching the presidential race play out in key states. In some of these states, such as Georgia and Texas, the polls are much closer than expected.
The Post’s polling director, Scott Clement, talks about Biden's narrow lead in Michigan, and what we can and can't learn from polling.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series for the first time in more than three decades — but there was a dark cloud over celebrations after a player tested positive for the novel coronavirus but joined his teammates anyway.
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Will your vote count? Oct 27, 2020

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What we can learn from a Supreme Court decision on mail-in ballots in Wisconsin. The states where most voters still can’t vote by mail. And why it’s easier to vote from space than from your own home.
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On Monday night, the Supreme Court rejected a request to extend Wisconsin’s deadline for counting mail-in ballots. Justice Brett M.Kavanaugh wrote a concurring argument that reporter Philip Bump says is riddled with dubious arguments, including an allegation that late ballots are somehow a suspicious effort to shift the results.
Forget the official deadlines: Experts and campaigns say it's now too late to vote by mail. The latest from Jacob Bogage.
Coronavirus cases are surging again. But in five states, most voters fearful of infection are not allowed to cast ballots by mail. Reporter Arelis Hernández describes the restrictions leaving tens of millions of people with the risky choice of voting in person or not voting at all.
In 2020, casting a ballot from space may be easier than casting one on Earth. Editor Ruby Mellen explains how that could be.
Check out The Washington Post’s How to Vote guide for information on your state.
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In a new three-part documentary, The Washington Post explores a failed response to the coronavirus pandemic that’s left 225,000 Americans dead, despite decades of preparation in Washington. Watch “America’s Pandemic” here: http://wapo.st/pandemic

The court that Mitch McConnell built Oct 26, 2020

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Mitch McConnell’s Supreme Court victory. The future of the Affordable Care Act. And a shift in the White House’s thinking on how to tackle the coronavirus.
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Trump’s conservative imprint on the federal judiciary gives Democrats a playbook — if they win.
‘ACB vs. ACA’: Why Democrats keep bringing up Obamacare during Barrett’s confirmation hearing.
With just over a week until Election Day, the White House has signaled that it’s done trying to contain the spread of the coronavirus, setting its chips on therapeutics and vaccines. And, as White House reporter Toluse Olorunnipa explains, that shift in attitude can be seen in how Vice President Pence’s office is handling its own outbreak.
Check out The Washington Post’s How to Vote guide for information on your state.
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The winners and losers of early voting Oct 23, 2020

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What record-breaking early-voter turnout means for Democrats and Republicans. How one election official is handling the “tsunami” of ballots in her Texas county. Plus, the latest on foreign election interference.
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Across the country, Democratic enthusiasm is propelling an enormous wave of early voting. But reporter Amy Gardner, who covers voting issues, explains that it’s still too early to know what that will mean for Democrat Joe Biden. Meanwhile, election officials such as Dana DeBeauvoir of Travis County, Tex., are scrambling to accommodate the record numbers of voters.
During Thursday’s debate, President Trump and Biden were asked about the latest foreign interference in the election. Craig Timberg, national technology reporter, explains the story behind mysterious emails threatening Democratic voters this week.
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545 kids Oct 22, 2020

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How the government has lost track of hundreds of separated migrant families. Why rural communities still lack reliable access to high-speed Internet. And, forming a ‘pandemic pod’ for the winter.
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More than two years after a U.S. district judge ordered that families separated by President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy at the border be reunited, the parents of 545 minors still haven't been found. Reporter Teo Armus explains why it’s been so difficult to track and reunite families.
Read Kevin Sieff’s story about one of the first families separated at the border. Years later, they’re still apart.
The coronavirus pandemic has drawn new attention to a long-standing problem – poor Internet in rural communities. “There are people who have to go sit in parking lots, go meet a bus that has mobile hotspots, so they can submit homework or send an email with a large attachment,” says reporter Meagan Flynn, “because they can’t get Wi-Fi in their house.”
As winter approaches, many of us who rely on outdoor hangouts to meet our social needs might start to feel a little trapped and lonely. Never fear. Wellness reporter Allyson Chiu has a solution.
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The latest on the race for a vaccine Oct 21, 2020

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The latest on vaccine trials, and who would get a vaccine first. Why personal protective equipment such as the N95 mask is still so scarce. And introducing the mute button to the presidential debate.
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As coronavirus cases climb in nearly every state, drug companies are developing prospective vaccines at unprecedented speed. Science reporter Carolyn Y. Johnson has the latest on the search for a vaccine, and she says early data is expected in a matter of weeks.
N95 masks are crucial in protecting front-line workers against the coronavirus, but even months into the pandemic they’re still hard to come by. Reporter Jess Contrera covers the supply chain issue America can’t seem to fix.
President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden face off in their final presidential debate on Thursday. Political reporter Amy B Wang explains what to expect.
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