Tag Archives: voting

US

Georgia Senate considers repealing no excuse absentee voting in sweeping election bill

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Under SB 241, voters would need to be 65 years old or older, absent from their precinct, observing a religious holiday, be required to provide constant care for someone with a physical disability, or required to work “for the protection of the health, life, or safety of the public during the entire time the polls are open,” or be an overseas or military voter to qualify for an absentee ballot. The bill aims to undo a 2005 Republican-backed law allowing no-excuse absentee voting.
The legislation is expected to pass the GOP-led Senate on Monday in an hours-long session that will also include final debate and votes on at least 11 other pieces of election related bills. Once approved, the bill would go onto the Georgia House of Representatives, where the bill is expected to pass in the coming weeks.
Around the country, Republican-controlled state legislatures are relying on election falsehoods to mount aggressive changes to voting rules. As of February 19, lawmakers in more than 40 states had introduced more than 250 bills that included voting restrictions, according to a tally by the liberal-leaning Brennan Center For Justice at New York University, which is tracking the bills.

Georgia GOP Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, the primary sponsor of the bill, said in introducing the legislation in February that limiting absentee voting was necessary in order to reduce the costs of processing ballots, relieve stress on local election workers and increase the certainty that absentee ballots are counted.

“All we’re trying to do here is make sure we can afford it, the offices can manage it and the voters are certain their votes actually counted,” said Dugan.

Senate President Butch Miller, also a Republican, told CNN that the legislation aims to increase confidence in the Peach State’s election system following the 2020 elections.

“I want every legal vote counted, timely and accurately, and I want better access for all voters. Even those of us who never claimed that the election was stolen recognize that the electorate has lost confidence in the legitimacy of the system. We must work to restore that,” Miller said in an email statement to CNN.

The bill also creates ID requirements to request an absentee ballot, requiring anyone who does not have a state identification or state driver’s license to submit a copy of an approved form of ID when requesting an absentee ballot as well as when submitting their absentee ballot.

The bill would also establish and maintain a voter hotline at the State Attorney’s office for complaints and allegations of voter intimidation and illegal election activities, require Georgia to participate in a multi-state voter registration system in order to cross-check the eligibility of voters, limit the use of mobile voting locations, require a court order for extending polling hours, and would give the legislature authority to temporarily block any emergency voting rule changes, among a host of election law changes.

Georgia Democratic lawmakers have denounced the legislation as backlash to the record turnout of the 2020 election and January runoffs which saw the state turn blue with President Joe Biden becoming the first Democrat to win the presidential election in the Peach State in nearly three decades. And Georgia voters also elected two Democrats to the Senate in January runoffs.

“They (Republicans) passed this law. They didn’t use it. The Democrats did. The GOP lost. And because of that, now, they want to change the laws back,” said Democratic Caucus Chair, Sen. Gloria Butler told CNN.

Voting rights activists say the bill would create additional barriers that would “restrict the freedom to vote” while also continuing GOP officials baseless voter fraud allegations.

“It’s a double pronged fight that we’re in right now: to push back against this disinformation which is extremely dangerous and on the voting front itself to make sure that these regressive bills are not codified into law,” said Poy Winichakul, staff attorney for the SPLC Action Fund.

Last week, the US House of Representatives passed HR 1, also know as the “For the People Act,” a sweeping government, ethics and election bill aimed at countering state-level Republican efforts to restrict voting access. The legislation would bar states from restricting the ability to vote by mail and, among other provisions, call for states to use independent redistricting commissions to create congressional district boundaries.
On Sunday, Biden signed an executive order expanding voting access and directing the heads of all federal agencies to submit proposals for their respective agencies to promote voter registration and participation within 200 days, while assisting states in voter registration under the National Voter Registration Act.

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US

With virus aid in sight, Democrats debate filibuster changes

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WASHINGTON (AP) — With President Joe Biden on the verge of his first big legislative victory, a key moderate Democrat said Sunday he’s open to changing Senate rules that could allow for more party-line votes to push through other parts of the White House’s agenda such as voting rights.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin stressed that he wants to keep the procedural hurdle known as the filibuster, saying major legislation should always have significant input from the minority party. But he noted there are other ways to change the rules that now effectively require 60 votes for most legislation. One example: the “talking filibuster,” which requires senators to slow a bill by holding the floor, but then grants an “up or down” simple majority vote if they give up.

“The filibuster should be painful, it really should be painful and we’ve made it more comfortable over the years,” Manchin said. “Maybe it has to be more painful.”

“If you want to make it a little bit more painful, make him stand there and talk,” Manchin added. “I’m willing to look at any way we can, but I’m not willing to take away the involvement of the minority.”

Democrats are beginning to look to their next legislative priorities after an early signature win for Biden on Saturday, with the Senate approving a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan on a party-line 50-49 vote.

Final passage is expected Tuesday in the House if leaders can hold the support of progressives frustrated that the Senate narrowed unemployment benefits and stripped out an increase to the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Over the weekend, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, representing around 100 House liberals, called the Senate’s weakening of some provisions “bad policy and bad politics.” But Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., also characterized the changes as “relatively minor concessions” and emphasized the bill retained its “core bold, progressive elements.”

Biden says he would sign the measure immediately if the House passed it. The legislation would allow many Americans to receive $1,400 in direct checks from the government this month.

“Lessons learned: If we have unity, we can do big things,” a jubilant Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told The Associated Press in an interview after Saturday’s vote.

Still, the Democrats’ approach required a last-minute call from Biden to Manchin to secure his vote after he raised late resistance to the breadth of unemployment benefits. That immediately raised questions about the path ahead in a partisan environment where few, if any, Republicans are expected to back planks of the president’s agenda.

Democrats used a fast-track budget process known as reconciliation to approve Biden’s top priority without Republican support, a strategy that succeeded despite the reservations of some moderates. But work in the coming months on other issues such as voting rights and immigration could prove more difficult.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pledged that Senate Republicans would block passage of a sweeping House-passed bill on voting rights. The measure, known as HR 1, would restrict partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, strike down hurdles to voting and bring transparency to the campaign finance system. It would serve as a counterweight to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country in the wake of Donald Trump’s repeated false claims about a “stolen” election.

“Not one Republican is going to vote for HR 1 because it’s a federal takeover of elections, it sets up a system where there is no real voter security or verification,” Graham said. “It is a liberal wish list in terms of how you vote.”

The Senate is divided 50-50, but Democrats control the chamber because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the tie-breaking vote. With 60 votes effectively needed on most legislation, Democrats must win the support of at least some Republicans to pass Biden’s agenda.

When asked about the voting rights bill, Manchin on Sunday left the door open to supporting some kind of a workaround to allow for passage based on a simple majority, suggesting he could support “reconciliation” if he was satisfied that Republicans had the ability to provide input. But it was unclear how that would work as voting rights are not budget-related and would not qualify for the reconciliation process.

“I’m not going to go there until my Republican friends have the ability to have their say also,” Manchin said.

On Sunday, the anti-filibuster advocacy group “Fix Our Senate” praised Manchin’s comments as a viable way to get past “pure partisan obstruction” in the Senate.

“Sen. Manchin just saw Senate Republicans unanimously oppose a wildly popular and desperately-needed COVID relief bill that only passed because it couldn’t be filibustered, so it’s encouraging to hear him express openness to reforms to ensure that voting rights and other critical bills can’t be blocked by a purely obstructionist minority,” the group said in a statement.

Manchin spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “Fox News Sunday,” CNN’s “State of the Union” and ABC’s “This Week,” and Graham appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

___

Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

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US

Supreme Court could put new limits on voting rights lawsuits

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight years after carving the heart out of a landmark voting rights law, the Supreme Court is looking at putting new limits on efforts to combat racial discrimination in voting.

The justices are taking up a case about Arizona restrictions on ballot collection and another policy that penalizes voters who cast ballots in the wrong precinct.

The high court’s consideration comes as Republican officials in the state and around the country have proposed more than 150 measures, following last year’s elections, to restrict voting access that civil rights groups say would disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic voters.

A broad Supreme Court ruling would make it harder to fight those efforts in court. Arguments are set for Tuesday via telephone, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It would be taking away one of the big tools, in fact, the main tool we have left now, to protect voters against racial discrimination,” said Myrna Perez, director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s voting rights and elections program.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, said the high court case is about ballot integrity, not discrimination. “This is about protecting the franchise, not disenfranchising anyone,” said Brnovich, who will argue the case on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden narrowly won Arizona last year, and since 2018, the state has elected two Democratic senators.

The justices will be reviewing an appeals court ruling against a 2016 Arizona law that limits who can return early ballots for another person and against a separate state policy of discarding ballots if a voter goes to the wrong precinct.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ballot-collection law and the state policy discriminate against minority voters in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act and that the law also violates the Constitution.

The Voting Rights Act, first enacted in 1965, was extremely effective against discrimination at the ballot box because it forced state and local governments, with a history of discrimination, including Arizona, to get advance approval from the Justice Department or a federal court before making any changes to elections.

In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the portion of the law known as Section 5 could no longer be enforced because the population formula for determining which states were covered hadn’t been updated to take account of racial progress.

Congress “must identify those jurisdictions to be singled out on a basis that makes sense in light of current conditions,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a conservative majority. “It cannot rely simply on the past.”

Democrats in Congress will try again to revive the advance approval provision of the voting rights law. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act failed in the last Congress, when Republicans controlled the Senate and President Donald Trump was in the White House.

But another part of the law, Section 2, applies nationwide and still prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of race. Civil rights groups and voters alleging racial bias have to go to court and prove their case either by showing intentional discrimination in passing a law or that the results of the law fall most heavily on minorities.

The new Supreme Court case mainly concerns how plaintiffs can prove discrimination based on the law’s results.

The arguments are taking place against the backdrop of the 2020 election, in which there was a massive increase in early voting and mailed-in ballots because of the pandemic. Trump and his Republican supporters challenged the election results by advancing claims of fraud that were broadly rejected by state and federal courts.

But many Republicans continue to question the election’s outcome, despite the absence of evidence. GOP elected officials have responded by proposing to restrict early voting and mailed-in ballots, as well as toughen voter identification laws.

The challenged Arizona provisions remained in effect in 2020 because the case was still making its way through the courts.

But Brnovich said last year’s voting is another reason the justices should side with the state. “I think part of the lesson of 2020 was that when people don’t believe that elections have integrity or that their vote is being protected, it will lead to undermining the public’s confidence in the system,” Brnovich said.

Civil rights groups said the court should not use this case to make it harder to root out racial discrimination, which “still poses a unique threat to our democracy,” as the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund put it in a brief.

Nearly 75 businesses, including PayPal, Levi Strauss and Impossible Foods, joined in a brief urging the court to “fully preserve the Voting Rights Act.”

The Justice Department will not be part of Tuesday’s arguments, a rarity in a voting rights case.

The Trump administration backed Arizona. The Biden administration, in a somewhat cryptic letter to the court, said this month that it believes “neither Arizona measure violates Section 2’s results test,” but doesn’t like the way its predecessor analyzed the issues.

The suggestion from the new administration could give the court a narrow way to uphold the Arizona provisions without making any significant changes to voting discrimination law.

A decision is expected by early summer.

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US

House OKs $1.9T coronavirus bill — with 2 Democrats voting against it

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The U.S. House of Representatives approved a massive $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package early Saturday — the sixth COVID bill passed since the pandemic began a year ago.

The vote around 2 a.m. ET was 219-212.

Two Democrats voted against their party’s plan: U.S. Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon. Both lawmakers also opposed a $3 trillion bill last May that ultimately failed.

Golden issued a statement defending his decision.

“During challenging times, the country needs its elected leaders to work together to meet the most urgent needs in their communities,” Golden said, according to The Associated Press. “This bill addresses urgent needs, and then buries them under a mountain of unnecessary or untimely spending.”

“This bill addresses urgent needs, and then buries them under a mountain of unnecessary or untimely spending.”

— U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, seen March 6, 2019, voted against the Democrats’ latest coronavirus bill. (Roll Call)

Not a single Republican backed Saturday’s bill. About two hours before the vote, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy derided the proposal as “Pelosi’s Payoff Bill.”

McCarthy, R-Calif., further described the legislation as “Democrats’ costly, corrupt and liberal spending package,” one that he claimed signified, “The Swamp is back.”

HOUSE TO VOTE ON BIDEN’S $1.9T CORONAVIRUS RELIEF PACKAGE THAT INCLUDES $1,400 STIMULUS CHECKS

“Congress won’t actually vote on this bill until 2 a.m. Saturday,” McCarthy said. “Why? Because Democrats are so embarrassed by all the non-COVID waste in this bill that they are jamming it through in the dead of night.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. (Associated Press)

“We ran the numbers,” McCarthy added. “The amount of money that actually goes to defeating the virus is less than 9 percent – Less than 9 percent! So don’t call it a rescue bill. Don’t call it a relief bill. Call it the Pelosi Payoff.”

“The amount of money that actually goes to defeating the virus is less than 9 percent – Less than 9 percent!”

— House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

Many Republicans particularly objected to Democrats’ efforts to include a $15 minimum wage requirement as part of the package — saying it would hurt businesses and cost many Americans their jobs.

The House bill passed Saturday morning included the $15 plan — but the Democrats’ effort was expected to run into a roadblock in the Senate because Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough this week decided that inclusion of the $15 plan would violate Senate rules.

Shortly before midnight Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the bill in remarks on the House floor, declaring the $15 minimum wage goal would be achieved one way or another, regardless of MacDonough’s ruling.

“It is inevitable to all of us, the $15 minimum wage will be achieved,” Pelosi said, “even if it is inconceivable to some, it is inevitable to us – and we will work diligently to shorten the distance between the inevitable and the inconceivable.”

The $15 minimum wage proposal is particularly important to progressives — but other House Democrats appeared pleased with the bill that was passed Saturday.

“I am a happy camper tonight,” U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said, according to The Associated Press. “This is what America needs. Republicans, you ought to be a part of this. But if you’re not, we’re going without you.”

“Republicans, you ought to be a part of this. But if you’re not, we’re going without you.”

— U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

Lawmakers were rushing to send approved legislation to President Biden’s desk by March 14, when key unemployment aid programs for millions are set to expire.

The proposal contains a third $1,400 stimulus check for Americans earning less than $75,000 annually, increases jobless benefits to $400 a week through the end of August, expands the child tax credit to up to $3,600 per child, includes $350 billion for state and local government funding and allocates $170 billion for K-12 schools and higher education institutions to cover reopening costs.

GOP lawmakers have questioned the need for another $2 trillion, accusing their liberal colleagues of using the bill as means of passing a “Democratic wish list.”

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Following the House vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused House Democrats of bringing the “wrong attitude” to the coronavirus legislation.

“In 2020, Congress passed five COVID-19 rescue passages,” McConnell said in a statement. “All five were completely bipartisan. It was the largest peacetimefiscal expansion in American history … because both parties had shaped the bills together and they met Americans’ urgent needs.”

“Tonight,” he added, “House Democrats snapped that bipartisan streak. They jammed through a bill that even liberal economsts and editorial boards say is not targeted to this stage of the fight.”

Fox Business’ Megan Henney and The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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US

Georgia state GOP lawmakers introduce voting restriction legislation

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If passed, the eight proposed measures — which follow elections where Democrats made historic gains in the state — could considerably reshape Georgia’s electorate and have a significant impact on the 2022 midterm elections. Republicans, echoing a baseless argument frequently made by former President Donald Trump, claim that the measures are necessary to prevent voter fraud, even though no evidence exists that it played a factor in the outcome of the 2020 election.

One of the bills would require an excuse to vote absentee, undoing a 2019 law allowing no-excuse absentee voting. Under the bill, voters would need to be 75 years old or older, absent from their precinct, observing a religious holiday, have a physical disability, be required to provide constant care for someone with a physical disability, or required to work “for the protection of the health, life, or safety of the public during the entire time the polls are open” to qualify to vote absentee.

The bills would also ban ballot drop boxes and require voters to provide identification when they request an absentee ballot application. Another one of the bills would limit who can distribute absentee ballot applications to Georgia election officials and campaigns, blocking outside groups and nonprofit organizations from sending applications to voters.

Other measures introduced by state Republican lawmakers would expand poll watcher access, prohibit new Georgia residents from voting in runoffs, and mandate monthly updates to election officials of voters who have died.

Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, who cosponsored the bills, said they “vary in their approach for reasserting confidence in an election system which has lost credibility with a majority of Georgians.”

“I want every legal vote counted, and I want better access for all voters. Accusing our reform efforts of suppression is a political tactic, pure and simple. Even those of us who never claimed that the election was stolen recognize that the electorate has lost confidence in the legitimacy of the system. We must work to restore that,” he said in a statement to CNN.

The package was roundly rebuked by Democratic lawmakers in the state after being introduced.

“How pathetic is it to respond to election losses by changing election rules rather than changing course on policy and tone?” state Democratic Rep. Josh McLaurin tweeted.
His message was echoed by Democratic state Sen. Nikki Merritt, who tweeted, “GA Republicans are so weak the only way they can win is by blocking your access to voting.”
Teri Anulewicz, a Democratic state representative, similarly tweeted: “Good legislation rights a wrong. It fixes a problem. Voter suppression won’t change why GA rejected the GOP in Nov & January.”
The Georgia Senate Democrats Twitter account also stated that the proposed measures are what happens when “Democrats win in GA.”

“These bills introduced today by the GA Senate GOP are a laundry list of #votersupression tactics meant to roll back voter participation, aimed specifically at reversing the impact Black voters and other voters of color,” the post read.

Democrats won both of Georgia’s US Senate seats in January runoff elections, and in November, President Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win the presidential election in the Peach State in nearly three decades.

Despite the absence of any widespread security issues with voting nationwide, GOP lawmakers in battleground states across the country have pushed for additional voting restrictions.

In Pennsylvania, Republicans are looking to repeal a no-excuse absentee voting law passed in 2019 through the state’s GOP-led Legislature.

And in Arizona, one GOP-sponsored bill would repeal the state’s permanent early voting list, which allows a voter to automatically receive a ballot by mail for every election.

CNN’s Kelly Mena contributed to this report.



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Entertainment

Feinberg Forecast: The Landscape Heading In to Oscar Shortlist Voting

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PLEASE NOTE: This forecast, assembled by The Hollywood Reporter‘s awards columnist Scott Feinberg, reflects his best attempt to predict the behavior of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, not his personal preferences. He arrives at these standings by drawing upon consultations with voters and awards strategists, analysis of marketing and awards campaigns, results of awards ceremonies that precede the Oscars, and the history of the Oscars ceremony itself. There will be regular updates to reflect new developments.

*BEST PICTURE*

Frontrunners
Nomadland (Searchlight)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Minari (A24)
Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Sound of Metal (Amazon)
One Night in Miami (Amazon)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Promising Young Woman (Focus)
Soul (Pixar)
Mank (Netflix)

Major Threats
 Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.)
News of the World (Universal)
The Father (Sony Classics)
Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon)

Possibilities
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus)
First Cow (A24)
The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Palm Springs (Hulu/Neon)
Malcolm & Marie (Netflix)

Long Shots
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Paramount)
The White Tiger (Netflix)
The Way Back (Warner Bros.)
The Invisible Man (Universal)

*BEST DIRECTOR*

Frontrunners
Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) — podcast
Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)
Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods) — podcast
Darius Marder (Sound of Metal)

Major Threats
David Fincher (Mank)
Regina King (One Night in Miami) — podcast
George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)

Possibilities
Paul Greengrass (News of the World) — podcast
Christopher Nolan (Tenet)
Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)
Kelly Reichardt (First Cow)

Long Shots
Florian Zeller (The Father)
Lee Daniels (The United States vs. Billie Holiday)
Pete Docter & Kemp Powers (Soul)
Ramin Bahrani (The White Tiger)

*BEST ACTOR*

Frontrunners
Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) — podcast
Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) — podcast
Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) — podcast
Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
Ben Affleck (The Way Back) — podcast

Major Threats
Gary Oldman (Mank)
Steven Yeun (Minari) — podcast
Tom Hanks (News of the World) — podcast [one and two]
Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) — podcast

Possibilities
John David Washington (Malcolm & Marie)
Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami)
Eli Goree (One Night in Miami)

Long Shots
LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah)
George Clooney (The Midnight Sky) — podcast
Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian)
Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger)

*BEST ACTRESS*

Frontrunners
Frances McDormand (Nomadland)
Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) — podcast
Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
Sophia Loren (The Life Ahead) — podcast
Zendaya (Malcolm & Marie)

Major Threats
Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday)
Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman)
Meryl Streep (The Prom) — podcast
Meryl Streep (Let Them All Talk) — podcast

Possibilities
Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth)
Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)
Kate Winslet (Ammonite) — podcast [one and two]
Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit) — podcast

Long Shots
Yeri Han (Minari)
Radha Blank (The 40-Year-Old Version)
Rachel Brosnahan (I’m Your Woman) — podcast
Julia Garner (The Assistant) — podcast
Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man) — podcast

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR*

Frontrunners
Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods) — podcast
Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7) — podcast
Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami) — podcast
Paul Raci (Sound of Metal)
Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)

Major Threats
David Strathairn (Nomadland)
Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami)
Mark Rylance (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)

Possibilities
Bill Murray (On the Rocks)
Bo Burnham (Promising Young Woman) — podcast
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Trial of the Chicago 7)

Long Shots
Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
Will Patton (Minari)
Frank Langella (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Rajkummar Rao (The White Tiger)

*BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS*

Frontrunners
Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)
Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)
Amanda Seyfried (Mank) — podcast
Olivia Cooke (Sound of Metal)
Ellen Burstyn (Pieces of a Woman)

Major Threats
Olivia Colman (The Father) — podcast
Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian)
Candice Bergen (Let Them All Talk)
Helena Zengel (News of the World)

Possibilities
Priyanka Chopra-Jonas (The White Tiger)
Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah)
Saoirse Ronan (Ammonite) — podcast

Long Shots
Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy) — podcast
Talia Ryder (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)
Alexis Chikaeze (Miss Juneteenth)

*BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY*

Frontrunners
Nomadland (Chloé Zhao)
One Night in Miami (Kemp Powers)
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Ruben Santiago-Hudson)
The Father (Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller)
News of the World (Luke Davies & Paul Greengrass) — podcast [Greengrass]

Major Threats
The Life Ahead (Edoardo Ponti)
The Midnight Sky (Mark L. Smith)
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Erica Rivinoja & Dan Swimer) — podcast [Cohen]

Possibilities
First Cow (Jonathan Raymond & Kelly Reichardt)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman) — podcast
The White Tiger (Ramin Bahrani)

Long Shots
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Suzan-Lori Parks)
Shirley (Sarah Gibbons)
The Personal History of David Copperfield (Armando Iannucci)
Emma. (Eleanor Catton)

*BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY*

Frontrunners
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin) — podcast
Minari (Lee Isaac Chung)
Sound of Metal (Derek Cianfrance, Abraham Marder & Darius Marder)
Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)
Soul (Pete Docter, Mike Jones & Kemp Powers)

Major Threats
Mank (Jack Fincher)
Da 5 Bloods (Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee) — podcast [Lee]
Malcolm & Marie (Sam Levinson)
The Forty-Year-Old Version (Radha Blank)

Possibilities
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas & Kenny Lucas)
Palm Springs (Andy Siara)
On the Rocks (Sofia Coppola)

Long Shots
Miss Juneteenth (Channing Godfrey Peoples)
I’m Your Woman (Julia Hart & Jordan Horowitz)
Ammonite (Francis Lee)
Tenet (Christopher Nolan)

*BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE*

Frontrunners
Crip Camp (Netflix)
Time (Amazon)
Collective (Magnolia/Participant)
Welcome to Chechnya (HBO)
The Truffle Hunters (Sony Classics)

Rest of Shortlist
Dick Johnson Is Dead (Netflix)
The Dissident (Briarcliff) — podcast [Bryan Fogel]
MLK/FBI (IFC)
City Hall (Zipporah) — podcast [Frederick Wiseman]
Boys State (Apple)
The Mole Agent (Gravitas)
On the Record (HBO Max)
The Social Dilemma (Netflix)
My Octopus Teacher (Netflix)
Notturno (Super LTD)

Possibilities
The Way I See It (Focus)
Acasa, My Home (Kino Lorber/Zeitgeist)
John Lewis: Good Trouble (Magnolia/Participant)
Totally Under Control (Neon) — podcast [Alex Gibney]
All In: The Fight for Democracy (Amazon)
The Human Factor (Sony Classics)
I Am Greta (Hulu)
Kingdom of Silence (Showtime)
The Fight (Magnolia/Topic)
Athlete A (Netflix)
Rebuilding Paradise (Nat Geo) — podcast [Ron Howard]

Long Shots
Be Water (ESPN)
Giving Voice (Netflix)
I Am Not Alone (self-distributed)
Searching for Mr. Rugoff (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Miss Americana (Netflix)
Kiss the Ground (self-distributed)
Dear Mr. Brody (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (Zeitgeist)
Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (Netflix) — podcast [Cristina Costantini]
A Secret Love (Netflix)
Circus of Books (Netflix)

Still to See
40 Years a Prisoner (HBO)
76 Days (MTV)
Apocalypse ’45 (Discovery)
Assassins (Greenwich)
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Beautiful Something Left Behind (MTV)
Belly of the Beast (PBS)
Belushi (Showtime)
Coded Bias (PBS Independent Lens)
Crock of Gold (Magnolia)
The Crying Steppe (Kazakhstan)
Desert One (Greenwich)
Disclosure (Netflix)
The Earth Is Blue as an Orange (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Father Soldier Son (Netflix)
Feels Good Man (Wavelength Productions/PBS Independent Lens)
Finding Yingying (MTV)
Fireball: Visitor from Darker Worlds (Apple TV+)
The Forbidden Reel (still seeking U.S. distribution)
The Go-Go’s (Showtime)
Gunda (Neon)
I Walk on Water (Grasshopper)
Mayor (Film Movement)
Me and the Cult Leader (still seeking U.S. distribution)
The Metamorphosis of Birds (still seeking U.S. distribution)
A Most Beautiful Thing (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Mr. SOUL! (self-distributed)
My People (still seeking U.S. distribution)
My Psychedelic Love Story (Showtime)
Napoli Eden (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Nasrin (Virgil Films & Entertainment)
Olympia (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Once Upon a Time in Venezuela (Topic)
The Painter and the Thief (Neon)
The Reason I Jump (Kino Lorber)
Reunited (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Rewind (Grizzly Creek)
Rising Phoenix (Netflix)
Softie (Icarus)
Stars and Strife (Virgil Films & Entertainment)
The State of Texas vs. Melissa (Filmrise)
Stray (Magnolia)
A Thousand Cuts (PBS)
‘Til Kingdom Come (Abramorama)
To See You Again (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Transhood (HBO)
Unapologetic (still seeking U.S. distribution)
The Viewing Booth (Roco)
Vivos (still seeking U.S. distribution)
Wild Daze (Cinedigm)
Wintopia (still seeking U.S. distribution)
With Drawn Arms (Starz)
Zappa (Magnolia)

*BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE*

Frontrunners
Another Round (Denmark)
Collective (Romania)
I’m No Longer Here (Mexico)
Two of Us (France)
Dear Comrades! (Russia)

Rest of Shortlist
Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast)
My Little Sister (Switzerland)
Apples (Greece)
Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Charlatan (Czech Republic)
La Llorona (Guatemala)
The Mole Agent (Chile)
Notturno (Italy)
A Sun (Taiwan)
Hope (Norway)

Other Official Submissions (alphabetical)
14 Days, 12 Nights (Canada)
Agnes Joy (Iceland)
And Tomorrow the Entire World (Germany)
Arracht (Ireland)
Asia (Israel)
Atlantis (Ukraine)
The Auschwitz Report (Slovakia)
Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (Brazil)
Beginning (Georgia)
Better Days (Hong Kong)
Blizzard of Souls (Latvia)
Broken Keys (Lebanon)
Bulado (Netherlands)
Causa Justa (Panama)
Charter (Sweden)
The Crying Steppe (Kazakhstan)
Dara of Jasenovac (Serbia)
Emptiness (Ecuador)
The Endless Trench (Spain)
Exile (Kosovo)
Extracurricular (Croatia)
The Father (Bulgaria)
Gaza Mon Amour (Palestine)
Heliopolis (Algeria)
Impetigore (Indonesia)
Jallikattu (India)
Land of Ashes (Costa Rica)
The Last Ones (Estonia)
Leap (China)
The Letter (Kenya)
Lunana a Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
The Man Standing Next (South Korea)
The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia)
Mindanao (Philippines)
Miracle in Cell No. 7 (Turkey)
Nafi’s Father (Senegal)
Never Gonna Snow Again (Poland)
Nova Lituania (Lithuania)
Once Upon a Time in Venezuela (Venezuela)
Open Door (Albania)
Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (Hungary)
River Tales (Luxembourg)
Roh (Malaysia)
The Sleepwalkers (Argentina)
Song Without a Name (Peru)
Songs of Solomon (Armenia)
Stories From the Chestnut Woods (Slovenia)
Sun Children (Iran)
This Is Not a Burial (Lesotho)
Tove (Finland)
True Mothers (Japan)
Vitalina Varela (Portugal)
What We Wanted (Austria)
Willow (North Macedonia)
Working Girls (Belgium)
You Will Die at 20 (Sudan)



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Sports

Baseball Hall of Fame 2021 voting results, updates: Will Curt Schilling get enough votes to make the cut?

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The 2021 National Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced during a live MLB Network broadcast on Tuesday. The broadcast will begin at 6 p.m. ET, with the announcement to come shortly thereafter. Approximately 400 long-tenured members of the Baseball Writers Association of America are expected to cast ballots this year. Here are the storylines you need to know.

Players need to appear on 75 percent of the submitted ballots to be voted into the Hall of Fame and there is a chance no players will be voted in this year. As of Tuesday afternoon, Curt Schilling has appeared on 74.9 percent of public ballots, which at present cover about half the total ballots submitted. Schilling currently has the highest voting percentage among eligible players this year.

Historically, the non-public ballots drag down a player’s final voting percentage. That has certainly been true with Schilling. Last year he appeared on 73.7 percent on public ballots and finished with a 70.0 percent final percentage. It was 64.7 percent and 60.9 percent the year before that, and 57.5 percent and 51.2 percent the year before that. So on and so forth.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, arguably the greater hitter and pitcher of their generation, have seen their support stagnate in the 50-60 percent range the last few years and it is unlikely they will be inducted into Cooperstown given their ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Schilling’s support is trending up and he has a good chance to be voted in at some point.

Of course, this is the penultimate year on the ballot for Bonds, Clemens, and Schilling. If they are not voted in this year, all three will appear on the ballot for the 10th and final time next year. If they’re not voted in then, their Hall of Fame fates will be passed on to the Eras Committees, which meet every few years to consider players not voted in my the BBWAA.

Other notables on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot include Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent, Andy Pettitte, Manny Ramirez, Scott Rolen, Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa, Omar Vizquel, and Billy Wagner. This is Sosa’s ninth year on the ballot and Kent’s eighth year on the ballot. Everyone else on the ballot has at least three years of eligibility remaining.

If no players are voted in this year, it would be the eighth time the BBWAA did not vote a player into the Hall of Fame. It also happened in 1945, 1950, 1958, 1960, 1965, 1971, 1996, and 2013. Although no players were voted into Cooperstown in 2013, eight players on that year’s ballot were eventually voted in by the BBWAA.

Even if no players are voted in this year, there will be an induction ceremony in Cooperstown in July. Last year’s ceremony was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 Hall of Fame class will be honored this summer. Derek Jeter, Ted Simmons, Larry Walker, and the late Marvin Miller were voted in last year.

Following along below for news and analysis leading up to, during, and after this year’s Hall of Fame class is announced.

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