Morning! Good luck commuting if you’re in New Jersey. Starting today, people will face bus, ferry and train disruptions to and from Manhattan as workers upgrade a bridge. The chaos is expected for five weeks. Read the latest updates. We have more news below. But first, we’re taking your questions.
Your questions about politics
The midterm elections are only a few weeks away, and readers of The Morning have sent us a lot of questions. Many of you wanted to know about President Trump’s taxpayer-funded ads, the prospect of ICE agents at polling stations and who’s going to win. (We’re not clairvoyant, but we do have helpful data.) Times reporters have fanned out across the country, chronicling the highest-profile Senate contests that will decide who controls the chamber and the tiny municipal disputes about data centers. I dragooned five of them to answer your queries. Why are candidates allowed to air ads that lie about their opponents? | Dawn Seggelink | Medford, Oregon Courts give political speech the highest level of First Amendment protection. Candidates and PACs can be sued for defamation if they air damaging claims that they knew were false, or if they “acted with reckless disregard” of the truth. But the bar to win such a case is extremely high, and courts move slowly. More important, candidates don’t have to lie outright to fudge the truth. There is a well-established playbook for that, including by omitting context, airing unproven allegations and drawing misleading conclusions about unrelated facts. — Bayliss Wagner, who covers politics Have pollsters made changes to get more accurate results? | Howard Frysinger | Glenmoore, Pennsylvania Polling has transformed over the last decade or so. Pollsters now contact people over text message, on the phone, through the mail and online. For the Times/Siena poll, we have tried all of those different approaches to reach voters. In the end, we found the classic approach of calling voters on the phone still yields the best results. But we are constantly innovating and evaluating our approach to ensure we’re the most accurate. One change is in how we adjust our polls to make sure that they are representative. — Ruth Igielnik, a Times polling editor Will ICE agents be at polling places? | Robert Halper | West Orange, New Jersey Although some election officials and voting advocates worry that this prospect will drive away voters, they say the law is clear: Armed federal agents are not allowed in polling places. Administration officials have spread misinformation about the voter rolls, saying they bulge with noncitizens, but the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice have said there are no plans to deploy armed agents to patrol polling places. (Government lawyers, on the other hand, are often on site.) — Alexandra Berzon, an investigative reporter who writes about election systems How can my tax money be used for Trump’s political ads? | Judith Epstein | Overland Park, Kansas Federal law prohibits using taxpayer money for “publicity or propaganda.” The White House lawyers blessed these ads as acceptable, but even some of the president’s allies are not convinced of that. The short answer is that federal dollars can be spent on public service announcements, but those usually are about a program or policy. These ads glorify the president; even one that is specific to an action the administration took — the capture of Nicolás Maduro — still included praise for the president. — Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent Why is voter ID controversial? We need an ID for many other aspects of life, so why not this one? | Mary Pat Sutter | Pewaukee, Wisconsin Critics of voter ID laws have a few arguments. They go like this: The measures place an undue burden on eligible voters. Some laws restrict acceptable IDs to driver’s licenses, passports or state-issued IDs. Those cost money, require documents (copies of which you may need to pay for) and require time to obtain. Older, poorer and nonwhite voters are less likely to have those IDs. Many Democrats argue that one’s constitutional right to vote should not be limited by those factors, especially given how uncommon voter fraud is. — Michael Gold, who covers Congress
Trump has attacked the integrity of U.S. elections on more than 70 percent of the days since he returned to office. On social media and in speeches, the president repeats a litany of false claims: that he actually won the 2020 election, that Democrats use undocumented immigrants to “cheat” in elections, that mail-in ballots produce fraudulent results. Karen Yourish and Arfa Momin looked back at every day of Trump’s second term and documented all of the instances where he cast doubt on elections. By their count, it has happened on 440 days.
Hide and seek: Cuttlefish are masters of camouflage. How do they do it? Selma Blair: The actor was arrested after a call about a “physically abusive passenger” on a flight that landed at Kennedy Airport. “Big mistake. Big. Huge!”: Kelly Clarkson wanted to buy a toy bird at a novelty shop in Brooklyn. The store said it wasn’t for sale. The internet took sides. Your pick: The most clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about flamingos waiting out Hurricane Isaias in a bathroom. Lives lived: RJ Mitte, the actor best known for playing Bryan Cranston’s son on “Breaking Bad,” has died at 34.
Politics
Midterm elections
Africa
More International News
Other Big Stories
A.D.H.D. might not be about attention at all. Evidence suggests it’s about “sustained engagement,” or the ability to focus on what is relevant in a situation, a psychiatrist writes. The Trump administration could use a primer on what the values of Western civilization actually are, Bret Stephens argues. The Anniversary Sale ends soon: Morning readers, enjoy our best offer. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your interests with expert coverage of news, culture, business and more. Save now: $1/week for your first year.
28.1— That’s how many miles NASA’s Perseverance rover has driven on Mars, a record. See these amazing videos.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
