Bread # 4924 notable
Here's what happens if Palm Beach County can't count its votes by Thursday
If Florida's Palm Beach County can't recount its votes in three statewide races by Thursday, Florida will likely move on to a final count without it. All of Florida's 67 counties are re-counting their votes in the races for Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner, and must report new totals by 3 p.m. Thursday. Palm Beach County has said it won't be able to finish by then. “I will tell you that the secretary and the legislature and the governor have been extremely aware that with the election equipment we have, the potential of conducting all of these is impossible,” Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher told the Palm Beach Post. “We have asked the secretary if there was any consideration to extend the deadline and he said ‘no.’” If that happens, Palm Beach County will have to use the vote counts submitted to the Florida secretary of state on Saturday, according to Florida law.
Michael Barnett, chairman of the Palm Beach County GOP, told CNN that if the county misses the upcoming deadline, it would be “good news for Republicans because our candidates are ahead." “If they’re not able to meet the deadline, the secretary of state of Florida may go ahead and certify the elections for our candidates,” Barnett told CNN. “In that case, you can bet your butt there will be lawsuits filed everywhere.”
Republican Gov. Rick Scott initially claimed victory Tuesday in his race for the Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who refused to concede. The gap between Scott and Nelson, however, narrowed after Election Day as election officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties, two Democratic bastions, continued to count votes. The margin between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis in the state's race for governor is also small and falling. On Saturday, after initial unofficial results were submitted to Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner by the state’s 67 counties, Detzner ordered a statewide recount, for the Senate, governor, and agriculture commissioner races, which were too close to call. The announcement from Detzner has left election officials across the state hustling to complete their tallying by Thursday.
Suzy Trutie, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County's elections office, told the New York Times that officials there will need to work around the clock in order to re-tabulate votes. The county has also rented four more machines for the effort. And in Palm Beach County, officials are working 12-hour shifts. Bucher said a missed deadline could be attributed to technology limitations, as the eight machines used by the county can calculate only one recounted race at a time. “We asked the vendor if we could get, we would fly equipment in from anywhere in the United States and they do not have any other equipment,” Bucher said, according to WPTV. “This is all the equipment, they don’t make it anymore, nobody has spares.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/heres-what-happens-if-palm-beach-county-cant-count-its-votes-by-thursday
Your are welcome:) Yes they are, crazy right!
Elijah Cummings urges Democrats to back Pelosi for speaker of the House
Ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., urged incoming Democratic lawmakers to back Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in her bid for Speaker of the House, despite opposition to Pelosi’s leadership from a "small group" of Democrats. "For two years, they asserted that with Nancy Pelosi as our leader, Democrats could never win back the House. They claimed that these relentless Republican attacks made Leader Pelosi appear too divisive, and they argued that she should step aside for the good of the party," Cummings wrote of the faction of Democrats opposed to Pelosi in a letter to colleagues on Monday. "But then last Tuesday happened. And the American people obliterated the theory that Nancy Pelosi could not lead House Democrats to victory."
Democrats including incoming Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia have said they will oppose Pelosi during a vote on the floor. Meanwhile, others have indicated they are not in favor of Pelosi becoming speaker, but haven’t signaled whether they will back her during a floor vote. According to Cummings, Democrats should “present their views persuasively” and “vote their conscience” during the Democratic caucus to determine a candidate for speaker, but said Democrats must unite once a candidate emerges. "Our new members promised to get results on the issues their constituents care about — not to delay these efforts while they are dragged into a self-destructive leadership battle,” Cummings wrote in the letter, first obtained by Politico. “When the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, I urge Democrats to unite behind the candidate we select later this month to represent our values and to demonstrate to the nation that we can govern,” Cummings said.
Pelosi is currently running for speaker unopposed and has previously said she is “100 percent” certain she will be speaker of the house in the next Congress. "In the next few weeks, we need to be unified, find common ground with Republicans in our legislative engagements, but stand our ground when we must," Pelosi wrote to Democratic lawmakers Monday.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/elijah-cummings-urges-democrats-to-back-pelosi-for-speaker-of-the-house
Using machines no longer made and didn't make provisions for such an occasion..like break downs..gee I wonder why!
Russia announces Taliban’s demands for US
Afghanistan’s Taliban will negotiate with the central government in Kabul only after the United States agrees to leave the country, according to a senior Russian diplomat.
Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special envoy for Afghanistan, announced the Taliban’s demands on Monday after hosting an international summit on the country’s crisis that was attended by other members of a security bloc led by Russia and China. The Taliban want the United States to undertake a number of “confidence-building measures,” starting with a deadline for a full withdrawal from the country. “[They] said they will be ready to speak with the Afghan government only after fixing a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan with the U.S.,” Kabulov said, per TASS, a state-run outlet. “As confidence-building measures under a preliminary plan, the Taliban demand that all political prisoners be freed and anti-Taliban sanctions, which were imposed back in 1997, be lifted. That ultimatum followed an international conference in Moscow, the first in which the Taliban has participated. The United States attended in an observer capacity, while the Kabul sent members of a government-appointed Peace Council. “With participation in the meeting, the international status of the Islamic Emirate will be strengthened even further,” the Taliban said, per Voice of America, using the name for the government overthrown when the United States invaded after the 2001 terrorist attacks. “Such diplomatic efforts of the Islamic Emirate showcase the active, clear, and independent diplomacy and policy of the Islamic Emirate in the political field.”
The summit was also attended by leading regional countries such as China, Iran, India, and Pakistan — a meeting of U.S. adversaries, enemies, budding partners, and flagging allies — to discuss the prospects for a country that could an arena for cooperation or rivalry. "It's unacceptable to try to turn Afghanistan into a field of competition for outside players, as it makes for bad consequences," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. And yet, U.S. officials see Russia and Iran as doing just that, even though all sides should see a common interest in repressing the threat of terrorism emanating from the country. “Russia is not helping at all. … Iran is not helping at all,” Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S.-backed outlet. “We hear this when we’re in Afghanistan, and we hear from the military leaders. They talk about the enablers — those who have the money and the capacity to be helpful, but instead are really propping up the terrorist networks that are killing innocent people.”
The State Department believes that Russia and Iran are “hedging their bets” by backing the Taliban on the side, even as American forces fight the ousted regime while looking for a breakthrough for potential peace settlements. As the instability continues, an affiliate of the Islamic State has sought a foothold. "ISIS has grown stronger over the last couple of years, despite a really withering military campaign, principally from U.S. forces, but with strong support as well from Afghan forces,” a U.S official told the Washington Examiner in June, on condition of anonymity.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/russia-announces-talibans-demands-for-us
And they are looking for special dispensation…Not gonna happen.