COVID-19

On August 12, 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau released redistricting "legacy" data to the states. Although these data will require some time to process, this is the information states and localities need to draw new voting districts that are designed to last for the entire decade. The updated schedule for releasing these data has impacted state redistricting and election timelines. Learn more here.

It looks like Ramsey would qualify for both benefits, according to Yosef Getachew, media and democracy program director with the consumer group Common Cause. “The eligibility criteria for this program is pretty broad,” he said. Getachew added that individuals automatically qualify if they’re in a government program like SNAP or Medicaid. Ramsey is enrolled in Medicaid, so she’s eligible. One can also qualify if their income is at or below 135% of the federal poverty line, or if their income took a substantial hit from a job loss.

Incarcerated people are contracting COVID-19 at a staggering rate, this is not only an alarming public health issue but because of our country’s racist system of mass incarceration -- it’s a major racial justice issue, too.

Sylvia Albert, director of the voting and elections program at the advocacy group Common Cause, said the proposal threatens the autonomy of the judicial branch. “It is a warning to judges that if you don’t vote the way we want, we will expel you,” she said. “It is basically an attempt to eliminate the balance of powers among the three branches of government.”

“We have a roadmap as to how [McConnell] has operated in the past, which is to be a one-man blockade,” said Stephen Spaulding, a senior counsel at Common Cause, a liberal government reform group. “He will abuse the filibuster rule to demand supermajority votes on nearly every piece of the majority’s agenda. I think we can anticipate that.”