Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

brooklynite

brooklynite's Journal
brooklynite's Journal
December 24, 2020

3 U.S.C. § 15 Counting electoral votes in Congress

§15. Congress shall be in session on the sixth day of January succeeding every meeting of the electors. The Senate and House of Representatives shall meet in the Hall of the House of Representatives at the hour of 1 o'clock in the afternoon on that day, and the President of the Senate shall be their presiding officer. Two tellers shall be previously appointed on the part of the Senate and two on the part of the House of Representatives, to whom shall be handed, as they are opened by the President of the Senate, all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates of the electoral votes, which certificates and papers shall be opened, presented, and acted upon in the alphabetical order of the States, beginning with the letter A; and said tellers, having then read the same in the presence and hearing of the two Houses, shall make a list of the votes as they shall appear from the said certificates; and the votes having been ascertained and counted according to the rules in this subchapter provided, the result of the same shall be delivered to the President of the Senate, who shall thereupon announce the state of the vote, which announcement shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons, if any, elected President and Vice President of the United States, and, together with a list of the votes, be entered on the Journals of the two Houses. Upon such reading of any such certificate or paper, the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any. Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received. When all objections so made to any vote or paper from a State shall have been received and read, the Senate shall thereupon withdraw, and such objections shall be submitted to the Senate for its decision; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, in like manner, submit such objections to the House of Representatives for its decision; and no electoral vote or votes from any State which shall have been regularly given by electors whose appointment has been lawfully certified to according to section 6 of this title from which but one return has been received shall be rejected, but the two Houses concurrently may reject the vote or votes when they agree that such vote or votes have not been so regularly given by electors whose appointment has been so certified. If more than one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State shall have been received by the President of the Senate, those votes, and those only, shall be counted which shall have been regularly given by the electors who are shown by the determination mentioned in section 5 of this title to have been appointed, if the determination in said section provided for shall have been made, or by such successors or substitutes, in case of a vacancy in the board of electors so ascertained, as have been appointed to fill such vacancy in the mode provided by the laws of the State; but in case there shall arise the question which of two or more of such State authorities determining what electors have been appointed, as mentioned in section 5 of this title, is the lawful tribunal of such State, the votes regularly given of those electors, and those only, of such State shall be counted whose title as electors the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide is supported by the decision of such State so authorized by its law; and in such case of more than one return or paper purporting to be a return from a State, if there shall have been no such determination of the question in the State aforesaid, then those votes, and those only, shall be counted which the two Houses shall concurrently decide were cast by lawful electors appointed in accordance with the laws of the State, unless the two Houses, acting separately, shall concurrently decide such votes not to be the lawful votes of the legally appointed electors of such State. But if the two Houses shall disagree in respect of the counting of such votes, then, and in that case, the votes of the electors whose appointment shall have been certified by the executive of the State, under the seal thereof, shall be counted. When the two Houses have voted, they shall immediately again meet, and the presiding officer shall then announce the decision of the questions submitted. No votes or papers from any other State shall be acted upon until the objections previously made to the votes or papers from any State shall have been finally disposed of.

December 24, 2020

Frustrated Trump met with Pence before holiday break

Source: CNN

Hours before President Donald Trump retweeted a message for his vice president to "act" in stopping the ratification of the Electoral College, he met for more than an hour in the Oval Office with Mike Pence, whom he has complained recently isn't doing enough to support his bid to overturn the election.

...snip...

Sources say Trump in recent days has brought the matter up to the vice president and has been "confused" as to why Pence can't overturn the results of the election on January 6.

Pence and White House aides have tried to explain to him that his role is more of a formality and he cannot unilaterally reject the Electoral College votes.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/cnn/2020/12/24/politics/trump-pence-electoral-college/index.html
December 24, 2020

20 passengers tested positive for COVID on the final London-Jamaica flight

A total of 301 passengers had arrived on Monday, and 20 of them tested positive on arrival in Jamaica. These passengers will now be kept in state isolation until they are recovered.

The Government of Jamaica has banned all flights from the UK until 4 January 2021. The Ministry of Health and Wellness had stated on Monday morning to prohibit all flights from the UK.

However, the ministry advised that flights over the next 24 hours up to midnight Tuesday will be allowed. The statement read:

“The country is expecting three flights from the UK over the next 24 hours, one of which is already en route. However, passengers who board those flights will be subjected to a minimum of 48-hour state quarantine and PCR testing.”


https://www.airlive.net/20-passengers-tested-positive-for-covid-on-the-final-london-jamaica-flight/

December 24, 2020

"Marley was dead, to begin with."

"There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to.

Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail."

December 24, 2020

UK and EU agree Brexit trade deal

Source: The Guardian

A historic deal on the UK’s future trading and security relationship with the European Union has been struck on Christmas Eve, a week before the end of the Brexit transition period.

As the country leaves the single market and customs union on 31 December, new arrangements allowing for tariff-free trade in goods and close police and judicial cooperation will come into force.

The announcement followed a final call between Boris Johnson in Downing Street and the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, in her Berlaymont headquarters in Brussels – at least the fifth such telephone conversation over the last 24 hours.

The trade agreement – running to 2,000 pages – is unprecedented in scope, containing provisions on subjects varying from civil nuclear cooperation and energy interconnections to fishing and aviation.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/24/uk-eu-agree-brexit-trade-deal-agreement
December 24, 2020

Andrew Yang Files Paperwork to Run for New York City Mayor

Source: WNBC News

Businessman and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang has filed paperwork to run for mayor of New York City, the city's Campaign Finance Board confirmed on Wednesday.

Yang's filing has the potential to immediately upend a race that was shaping up as a contest between long-entrenched city politicians. It comes just days after a new poll giving him a slight lead among his fellow Democrats running for mayor.

The entrepreneur sparked a huge following in the Democratic primaries for president with his call for universal basic income -- $1,000 a month for every American over 18, no strings attached, funded by a tax on companies benefitting from automation. But, his broad internet popularity did not translate to votes as he'd hoped.


Read more: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/andrew-yang-files-paperwork-to-run-for-new-york-city-mayor/2797754/

Profile Information

Name: Chris Bastian
Gender: Male
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Home country: USA
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 94,489
Latest Discussions»brooklynite's Journal