News Information and Media Site: A polite food fight

THE BIG STORY

The Supreme Court rejected Trump's efforts to force North Carolina to toss out ballots that arrive after Election Day

The court voted 5-3 to allow officials to count North Carolina ballots that arrive by Nov. 12, as long as they are postmarked on Election Day. The decision rejects a bid by President Donald Trump's campaign to narrow the window for absentee voting in the state.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the court's three liberal justices to allow the extension to stand. The court's newest member, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was sworn in this week, did not participate in the decision.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Republicans asked the Supreme Court to rush its decision on their challenge to the state's extended absentee ballot deadline.

The court declined to rush deciding, but three of the court's conservative-leaning justices warned the fight isn't over, raising the specter that mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day could still be invalidated.

President Donald Trump speaks in Lumberton, North Carolina, on October 24, 2020. Mandel Ngan / Getty Images.

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Voters of color have less power in the Electoral College

According to our data analysis, the Electoral College system is stacked against nonwhite voters. The numbers indicate that the average white, non-Hispanic voter appears to have almost twice the power to decide the election as the average Asian American voter.

The short version of the reason: white voters are much more likely than other voters to live in swing states — places such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan — where their 2020 ballots have a greater chance of deciding who becomes president.

SNAPSHOTS

Trump supporters were hospitalized after being stranded in the freezing cold in Nebraska. After the president left the event, many supporters were stuck until late at night, miles away from their cars, waiting for buses the Trump campaign had chartered to shuttle attendees back to the parking lot. Police said at least seven people were hospitalized.

Six Republican secretaries of state tried to stop Facebook's effort to register millions of voters. Despite the request, Facebook said it registered an estimated 4.4 million people to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

A Los Angeles Dodgers player tested positive for the coronavirus during the World Series. When they won, he came back to celebrate. Justin Turner's teammates mobbed each other after the final out. At first Turner wasn't there with them, but about an hour into the festivities, he returned to the field.

Spotify is defending Alex Jones's appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. After the conspiracy theorist appeared on Spotify's flagship podcast, Spotify appeared to be staying quiet. But in an internal email, a top Spotify executive is defending the booking.

BEYOND THE META-STORY

Herman Cain's life and death were more complicated than that

Herman Cain died from COVID-19 in July. Very quickly, his death became an insensitive meme, used as a cautionary tale and an example of the consequences of the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus.

But what those narratives ignored was: the reality of a person who has died, a family that was left shattered. Rosie Gray and Ruby Cramer sought out the more complicated, more real-life story of Cain's death — and the result is an extraordinary piece of journalism. From the story:

"...The bare facts of Cain's diagnosis, his 29-day hospitalization, and eventual death, hardened into a simple and extreme political allegory: Cain attends MAGA rally, Cain doesn't wear mask, Cain gets COVID, Cain literally dies...Lost in all the meta-commentary was the story of Cain himself."

A REBELLION IS AFOOT

The New York Times Cooking Facebook group turned political over a deleted post

So first, you should know that the New York Times Cooking Community, a private Facebook group run by the New York Times, has a few rules, one of which is: "There are many places to express your political views; this is not one of them."

So when a member shared a post that favored a particular political candidate, the post was swiftly deleted. But the deletion set off a new debate: isn't food inherently political?

The members responded to the deleted post saga by getting quite creative. A rebellion is afoot, with members posting pictures displaying the word "vote" in their food. It's a great time. I particularly enjoyed the one with the dried lavender stems.

Let's get this bread. Michelle Griffin Nikiforov

Give yourself permission to brag about your accomplishments today,

Elamin

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📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.

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