| THE BIG STORY
The pandemic election has the two presidential campaigns living in different universes
With just over a week to go before election day, the coronavirus has forced a stark contrast in how the candidates handle campaigning.
Take Kamala Harris, for example. When the Democratic VP candidate paced down a Cleveland street with a megaphone to address a line of a few hundred early voters, it was the biggest crowd she spoke to in the city.
It opened an opportunity for a Trump campaign senior adviser to snark on Twitter, “When you can’t draw a crowd...” On the same day as Harris’s speech, a Donald Trump rally in Ohio drew thousands of people, many of them maskless.
One campaign follows the coronavirus guidelines closely. The other doesn’t. Trump’s rallies draw big numbers. Biden events are small, when they happen — with the campaign choosing not to attract big crowds.
Scenes this weekend from both campaigns clarified the divergent and disorienting state of the presidential race.
Kamala Harris speaks across from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections on Oct. 24. Henry J. Gomez/BuzzFeed News STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Voters in Alabama’s largest county could have their ballots thrown out after a court ruled instructions they were sent were no longer valid
The background here: Elections officials in Jefferson County, Alabama, sent out a waiver with absentee ballots. This waiver allows voters with some medical conditions to bypass a law requiring that witnesses sign the ballots, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since those waivers were sent out, a court ruled that the waivers will not be allowed. So now an unknown number of absentee voters in Jefferson County — the state’s most populous county — are at risk of having their ballots thrown out.
It’s unclear if county officials have done – or will do – anything to notify the voters who received the waivers.
Joe Raedle / Getty Images SNAPSHOTS Two major coronavirus vaccine trials have restarted after being paused for safety investigations. Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca will resume their coronavirus vaccine trials in the US after pauses to investigate unexplained illnesses in trial participants.
Mike Pence’s top aide has tested positive for the coronavirus and Pence will keep campaigning. Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff, tested positive for the coronavirus, but Pence still plans to keep his travel schedule in the closing days of the presidential race.
Zoom deleted events discussing Zoom “censorship.” The company shut down a series of events meant to discuss what organizers called “censorship” by the company.
A New York cop was suspended for repeatedly saying Trump 2020 on his car loudspeaker. The officer was caught on video repeatedly saying “Trump 2020” on his patrol car's speaker while on duty in a Brooklyn neighborhood. The NYPD did not identify the officer but said he had been suspended without pay.
WORRYING SIGNS This scary US statistic predicts growing US political violence — whatever happens on election day
How unstable is democracy in the US? It’s not a simple question, but most people would say that on the whole, American democratic institutions are relatively sturdy.
Two academics have devised a measure of political instability, and uh, they don’t have good news. Their index shows that the nation will still be a powder keg that is waiting to blow, even if a Biden landslide means that Trump has little choice but to step aside.
The pair caution that there is a tendency to blame Trump for upending Democratic norms. But that’s too simple. Instead, they say the most dangerous element right now is the corrosive effect of inequality on society.
One of the academics told us people who rule out the possibility of serious political violence in the US based on “the strength of American institutions” are being “unduly optimistic.”
He put it like this: “The social system that we live in is extremely fragile.”
DANCE IT OUT The viral video of voters dancing is part of a movement to fight voter suppression and intimidation This weekend, a wholesome clip went viral. It showed people dancing while waiting in a long line to vote in Philadelphia, and it was shared by the likes of film director Ava DuVernay and comedian Wanda Sykes. As it turns out, the joyful scene was the result of work being done by Election Defenders, a nonpartisan coalition to make sure voters are “staying safe and healthy outside of polling places across the country and bringing them some joy.”
The organization trains thousands of people in deescalation tactics, in case voters find themselves dealing with intimidation at the polls. The organization told us music is a form of deescalation because “it centers the mood in something else.”
Voters dancing while waiting in line in Philadelphia as part of the Joy To The Polls initiative. Courtesy of Dominique Nichole Be protective and deliberate with your boundaries today, Elamin P.S. If you like this newsletter, help keep our reporting free for all. Support BuzzFeed News by becoming a member here. (Monthly memberships are available worldwide). 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Elamin Abdelmahmoud and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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