‘We disagree with…’: X responds after taking down posts of parties, leaders on EC orders
The orders were issued on April 2 and April 3 and a follow-up email was sent by the poll panel on April 10 in which it cited a violation of the ”voluntary code of ethics” if ‘X’ fails to remove the four posts reported to it.
Prosecutors push salacious portrait of Trump, winning some but not all battles
Donald Trump wants as much media coverage as possible of his first criminal trial. How surprising is that, given that his campaign says he raised $1.5 million after the trial’s first day? CNN reports that Trump wants his surrogates “blanketing the airwaves,” and that at least four VP contenders have argued his case on air or on social media: Elise Stefanik, J.D. Vance, Tim Scott and Doug Burgum – making this a tryout of sorts. ISRAEL’S SUCCESS, IRAN’S FAILURE AND THE CHANCES OF IGNITING THE MIDEAST POWDER KEG But the most important takeaway from the trial’s first two days is that prosecutors want to portray him as a playboy and a womanizer. News flash: Is there anyone on the planet that doesn’t already know that? Isn’t that baked into the judicial cake? Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, who’s already been criticized for bringing a thin and highly partisan case, argues that his approach will illuminate Trump’s motives in steering hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Each day, news outlets from around the world camp out early outside the dingy Lower Manhattan courthouse and, with only sketches from inside the courtroom, report on what’s happening through their filter. It is, after all, the first criminal proceeding against a former president, and a conviction, in a borough very unfriendly to Trump, could mean a jail sentence. But the need for something catchy caught fire when Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported that Trump briefly nodded off, his chin hitting his chest. Trump denounced the story as fake news and Haberman says he later glared at her for several long seconds. As he has done with previous civil cases, Trump denounced the trial, and Judge Juan Merchan, as a travesty and election interference. One thing is true: Bragg’s predecessor, Cy Vance Jr., passed on the case, as did federal investigators, and Bragg himself declined to bring charges before reviving the case many months later. He stretched what would have been a misdemeanor – falsifying hush money business records – into the lowest class of New York felony. And Bragg won election by vowing to go after Trump. IS OUR FIERCELY TRIBAL POLITICS JUST A DISTORTION OF REALITY? In court, the D.A.’s office asked that the gag order be enforced because of Trump’s continued attacks on star witness/convicted felon Michael Cohen, and the judge’s daughter, who works for Democratic candidates. That didn’t stop Trump from asking for a day off from court to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation and saying Merchan “likely” wouldn’t grant the request. Trump has made these trials part of his campaign, and this one is no exception, as he unloads to the assembled media mob before and after the proceedings, and sometimes during breaks. On the prosecutors’ efforts to fill the testimony with salacious detail, the judge has issued mixed rulings. Merchan will not allow accusations against Trump by women from his past, calling these “rumors.” He also will not allow the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump boasted of grabbing women by their genitals, to be played, but said prosecutors could talk about it. In light of the National Enquirer’s central role, since Cohen passed the $130,000 in hush money to Stormy at the end of the 2016 campaign through the tabloid, then owned by Trump pal David Pecker, the judge said that Karen McDougal, a Playboy playmate, could testify. In another catch-and-kill case, she was paid $150,000 to write a fitness column for another of Pecker’s magazines as long as she didn’t talk about Trump. Daniels says she had a single sexual encounter with Trump; McDougal maintains they had a 10-month affair filled with love. Trump has denied both accounts. That brings us to jury selection. When the first group of 96 potential jurors was brought in Monday, 50 said they had such strong feelings about Trump that they could not be objective. More made the same claim yesterday, but when both sides got to question the jury pool, some members were not owning up to their anti-Trump sentiments. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche confronted one such person about a Facebook post applauding Trump losing a court case about his travel ban and said, “get him out and lock him up.” The judge dismissed him for cause. Another person, asked about an old social media post involving an anti-Trump video, which the potential juror said was only “reposted.” Merchan booted this person as well. SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES By day’s end, six jurors had been seated. There was another clash in court yesterday when the judge said Trump was saying something to one of the jurors. “Your client was audibly uttering…I will not have any jurors intimidated in the court,” Merchan told Trump’s lawyer. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Just two days in and we’re basically mired in jury selection. Trump doesn’t need to worry about attracting lots of media coverage, as we’re already at saturation levels.
Bob Graham, former Florida governor and US senator, dead at 87
Former Democratic Senator and two-term Florida Gov. Bob Graham has died at 87. Graham’s family announced the death Tuesday evening in a statement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham. “As a legislator, Florida’s 38th Governor, and a United States Senator, Bob Graham devoted his life to the betterment of the world around him,” the family announced. “The memorials to that devotion are everywhere – from the Everglades and other natural treasures he was determined to preserve, to the colleges and universities he championed with his commitment to higher education, to the global understanding he helped to foster through his work with the intelligence community, and so many more,” the family said. HERE’S WHAT I’D LIKE YOU ALL TO REMEMBER ABOUT MY DEAR FRIEND SEN JOE LIEBERMAN His family remembered Graham for being a devoted grandfather and for his love for Florida. “Bob Graham would tell people his favorite title was not Governor or Senator. It was the name his grandchildren gave him: Doodle. ‘When I’m really good, they call me Super Doodle,’ he liked to say,” the family said. “For 87 years, Bob Graham was so much more than really good,” they said. “He was a rare collection of public accomplishments and personal traits that combined to make him unforgettable. As his family, we will never forget his love for us, the love he had for Florida, the United States, and the world, and the love so many people showed him. We thank God for the gift of his life.” Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-C.A., remembered Graham as a “patriotic American.” “It was with the deepest respect and sadness that I learned of the passing of Senator Bob Graham: a patriotic American and a great Member of the United States Senate,” she wrote in a X post. LINDA BEAN, OUTDOORS STORE L.L. BEAN HEIRESS AND GOP DONOR, DEAD AT 82 “It was my privilege to work closely with Senator Bob Graham when he was serving as Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence,” she wrote. “He brought his love for his family and for his state of Florida to the Senate, where he served with immense dignity and courage.” Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R-F.L.) thanked Graham for dedicating “his life to our state” “Bob Graham was a good man and a great Floridian who dedicated his life to our state,” Scott said. “His legacy will live forever, not because of any title he held, but for what he did with those opportunities to improve Florida and the lives of families in the Sunshine State.” “Ann and I are heartbroken to learn of his passing,” he said. “He and Adele have been so kind to our family and we will cherish the time we spent together. Please join us in praying for the Graham family and all who mourn Bob’s passing.” The former senator was among the earliest opponents of the Iraq war and was critical of former President George W Bush’s Iraq occupancy policies in 2003 following the removal of Saddam Hussein. During his 18 years in Washington, Graham worked across the aisle, particularly with Florida Republican Connie Mack during their dozen years together in the Senate. He served in the senate from 1979-1987. After leaving public life in 2005, Graham spent much of his time at a public policy center named after him at the University of Florida and pushing for legislation to require more civic classes in the Sunshine State’s public schools. Graham was one of five members selected for an independent commission by in June 2010 to investigate a massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatened sea life and beaches along several southeastern Gulf states. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sen. Bob Menendez may blame his wife Nadine during federal corruption trial: court docs
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is expected to blame his wife during his federal corruption trial as part of a defense strategy, newly-unsealed court documents reveal. In court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, attorneys for Sen. Menendez argued for his case to be severed because of his intention to introduce evidence that would imply his wife, Nadine, is guilty. Severing a case means that the co-defendants would be tried separately in two trials, rather than in one as a couple. The couple have both pleaded not guilty to bribery and obstruction of justice charges. They are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars and a Mercedes-Benz, for the benefit of various business persons and the Egyptian government. Nadine’s case was already severed by the time the documents, which were filed in January, came to light on Tuesday, but the documents hint at what evidence may come to light at the trial. SEN MENENDEZ CHARGED WITH OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN ANOTHER SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT In the court filing, attorneys imply that the Democratic senator will introduce evidence showing he was unaware of the allegedly illegal activities. The lawyers say Menendez may testify about communications with his wife that could exonerate him but may implicate Nadine, who allegedly withheld information from her husband. “At trial, as part of his defense, Senator Menendez may elect to testify to communications with his wife that serve to materially decrease any inference of culpability on Senator Menendez’s part,” the document states. “Senator Menendez will explain, for example, what he and his wife discussed contemporaneously with their dinners with Egyptian officials (which colored his understanding of the purpose of such dinners); the explanations that Nadine provided for why [co-defendants Wael Hanna and Jose Uribe] had provided her certain monetary items; the reasons why he sent his wife a series of questions that other Senators purportedly intended to ask an Egyptian official; and many more topics.” BOB MENENDEZ’S CORRUPTION CASE CO-DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY TO 7 COUNTS, COOPERATING WITH INVESTIGATORS “They may inculpate Nadine by demonstrating the ways in which she withheld information from Senator Menendez or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place,” the documents added. The bribes, which were allegedly given to the couple by New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, in exchange for Menendez’s power and influence. The senator and his wife are also accused of receiving gifts from Jose Uribe, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges in March. Earlier in April, Nadine Menendez’s attorneys requested to postpone her trial after an “unexpected medical development” arose. She was diagnosed with a “serious medical condition” on Apr. 9, her lawyers said. The senator’s trial is scheduled to begin on May 6, while his wife’s is planned for July 8. Fox News Digital’s Pilar Arias and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
Lindsey Graham says DHS told him Laken Riley’s alleged murderer was paroled into US illegally
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., posted to social media that the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to him that Laken Riley’s alleged murderer was paroled into the U.S. illegally because the Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas, was capped. Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, has been charged in the murder of Riley. The 22-year-old Augusta University nursing school student was killed Feb. 22, while jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed with Fox News Digital previously that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered Ibarra Sept. 8, 2022, and he was “paroled and released for further processing.” Now, Graham has found out more about Ibarra’s release. LAKEN RILEY CASE: GEORGIA AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY MURDER SUSPECT IN CUSTODY IN NURSING STUDENT’S SLAYING “DHS just confirmed to me that the man charged with Laken Riley’s murder was paroled into the U.S. illegally, ‘due to detention capacity at the Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas,’” Graham posted to X on Tuesday. “He wasn’t granted parole because he provided a significant benefit to the country or that he had a humanitarian need, as the law requires.” Graham also accused the Biden administration of breaking the law at the expense of innocent Americans. BROTHER OF UGA MURDER SUSPECT CHARGED WITH GREEN CARD FRAUD The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital seeking additional information about the claim. ICE previously stated Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department a year after being paroled, on Sept. 14, 2023, and was “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.” The agency later corrected the record saying he was arrested Aug 31, 2023. ICE CONFIRMS GEORGIA STUDENT MURDER SUSPECT ENTERED US ILLEGALLY, WAS PREVIOUSLY ARRESTED IN NYC Riley was found dead in February after previously attending UGA before entering a nursing program at Augusta’s Athens campus, where she made the dean’s list. Police have charged Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another person. Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 783
As the war enters its 783rd day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Fighting Ukraine’s Air Force said air defence systems destroyed nine Russian drones launched over several eastern and southern regions. The Institute for the Study of War, a United States-based think tank, said Russian troops on the front line were “breaking out of positional warfare and beginning to restore maneuver to the battlefield” because of US delays in providing military assistance to Ukraine. The think tank warned Ukrainian troops would not be able to hold their current lines “without the rapid resumption of US assistance, particularly air defense and artillery”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law a new mobilisation bill to address severe troop shortages. The new law includes measures to toughen penalties on draft dodgers and incentivise conscription but no plan to demobilise long-serving soldiers on the front line. The changes come into effect in one month. Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said almost 37,000 people, including military personnel, were unaccounted for since Russia’s full-scale invasion of his country began in February 2022, warning the actual figure may be “much higher”. Ukraine and the Red Cross had also identified about 1,700 people “illegally detained” by Russia, Lubinets said. Politics and diplomacy On a visit to Beijing, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked Chinese President Xi Jinping “to exert pressure on Russia so that [President Vladimir] Putin finally calls off his insane campaign, withdraws his troops and ends this terrible war”. Xi did not appear supportive of a Ukrainian-led peace summit to be held in June, however, saying any peace conference needed to be recognised by both sides and have equal participation. A Ukrainian man who says he was detained at work and tortured by Russian occupying forces filed a war crimes case in Argentina, the Reuters news agency reported. In the filing, the man accuses one named person, two identified by their call signs or military insignia, and others who are unnamed, of using electrocution and unlawful imprisonment as forms of torture in mid-to-late 2022. Russia denies committing war crimes in Ukraine. Russia’s FSB security service said it detained a man it accused of trying to kill a former officer in Ukraine’s main security service (SBU) who lives in exile in Moscow. The FSB alleged Kyiv had ordered the man to kill Vasily Prozorov, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the SBU, who told Russian news agencies he had passed sensitive information to Russia’s intelligence services since 2014. Prozorov’s car exploded in a suspected car bombing in Moscow last week. Weapons Zelenskyy said Ukraine “ran out” of defensive weapons to defend the Trypilska thermal power plant (TTPP), one of the biggest electricity suppliers to the Kyiv region, which allowed it to be destroyed by Russian missiles on April 11. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said 20 countries had pledged enough to buy 500,000 artillery shells for Ukraine under a Czech-led international fundraising drive to buy ammunition for the Ukrainian army. Adblock test (Why?)
Canada’s Trudeau government asks rich to pay more in pitch to Gen Z
Budget proposes higher capital gains taxes and billions in spending on education, housing, jobs and mental health. Canada will ask the wealthy to pay higher taxes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government seeks to shore up flagging support among young voters ahead of an election expected next year. Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland said in the annual budget announcement on Tuesday that the wealthiest Canadians should pay more, while billions of dollars would be invested in education, housing, jobs and mental health services. The budget proposes 53 billion Canadian dollars ($38bn) in new spending over five years, much of it directed towards Millennials and Generation Z in the form of affordable housing, student grants and loans, rent subsidies and work placement programmes. Under the proposals, capital gains over 250,000 Canadian dollars ($180,804) would be taxed at 66.7 percent, up from 50 percent, raising nearly 20 billion Canadian dollars ($14.5bn) in revenue over five years. Freeland said the opportunity for young people to build a comfortable middle-class life had “always been the promise of Canada”. “But today, Millennial and Gen Z Canadians can get a good job, they can work hard, they can do everything their parents did and more, and too often the reward remains out of reach,” she said. “They look at their parents’ lives and wonder: ‘How will I ever be able to afford that?’” Freeland acknowledged that the tax hike would prompt some pushback but said the increase would ensure the wealthiest pay their fair share. “But before they complain too bitterly, I would like Canada’s 1 percent – Canada’s 0.1 percent – to consider this: What kind of Canada do you want to live in?” she said. The Business Council of Canada (BCC) slammed the proposed budget as “good politics to some” but “bad economic policy for all.” “Wealth redistribution is not wealth creation and the spending measures introduced today will saddle Canadians with debt without encouraging the strong and sustained economic growth they deserve,” BCC President and CEO Goldy Hyder said in a statement. The budget will need the backing of the left-leaning New Democratic Party, which is keeping Trudeau’s minority government in power, to pass through parliament. Trudeau’s Liberal government is badly trailing the Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, ahead of general elections due to be held by the end of October 2025. Trudeau, who has led Canada since 2015, has seen his popularity severely dented amid widespread discontent over the cost of living and housing. In a poll by Nanos Research released in January, two in three Canadians said that Trudeau was doing a poor job of addressing the problem of unaffordable housing. Trudeau earlier this month announced plans to build nearly 3.9 million houses by 2031 to close the yawning gap between housing supply and demand. Adblock test (Why?)
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers worst bleaching on record
The 2,300km (1,429-mile) reef is in its fifth mass bleaching event since 2016 with aerial surveys showing the scale of damage. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for some 2,300km (1,429 miles) off the country’s northeastern coast, is suffering its worst bleaching event on record. The extent of the bleaching was revealed in aerial surveys after the government agency tasked with the reef’s management confirmed early last month that the reef had been hit by its fifth major bleaching event since 2016. The bleaching, when corals expel the colourful microscopic algae that live in their tissues in an effort to survive, was triggered by an increase in water temperatures that began in December last year. “This prolonged heat exposure has caused mass bleaching of coral reef communities observed within all three regions of the Great Barrier Reef,” the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said in an update on its website on Wednesday. “The combination of aerial and in-water surveys in 2024 confirm a mass bleaching event, with prevalent and extreme bleaching observed at multiple reefs in all 3regions of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.” The agency said it surveyed a total of 1,080 reefs and 79 percent of them showed some level of coral bleaching. Some 49 percent of surveyed reefs showed high to extreme levels of bleaching, it said, with the worst-affected areas in the central and southern parts of the World Heritage-listed reef. In the southern region, thermal stress was the highest recorded from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite since it began operations in 1985, the agency said. Across that area, bleaching prevalence ranged from high (31-60 percent of cover bleached) to extreme (more than 90 percent of cover bleached). Only 3 percent of surveyed reefs were not bleached. Coral reefs are living organisms and the Great Barrier Reef is considered one of the most species-rich habitats on earth. It is home to hundreds of types of coral, 1,500 fish species and 4,000 different molluscs. Reefs also provide protection for coastal communities and are natural carbon sinks. Climate change is the biggest threat to their survival because of their sensitivity to heat. “Only the strongest and fastest possible actions to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions will reduce the risks of thermal stress on the Reef and limit the impacts from climate change on the Great Barrier Reef,” the marine park authority said. Corals can recover from bleaching and the agency said the full impact of the event would not be known for some time. It added that in-water surveys would continue. Adblock test (Why?)
White House announces new sanctions on Iran following attack against Israel: ‘The pressure will continue’
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan released a statement Tuesday announcing that new sanctions will be placed against Iran in the wake of the regime’s attacks against Israel last weekend. The new sanctions come amid Republican criticism of the Biden administration for purportedly not being tough enough on Iran, after the White House extended a waiver that allowed Iran to access to $10 billion of previously escrowed funds in November 2023. In a press release, Sullivan announced that President Biden is “coordinating with allies and partners, including the G7, and with bipartisan leaders in Congress, on a comprehensive response.” “In the coming days, the United States will impose new sanctions targeting Iran, including its missile and drone program as well as new sanctions against entities supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Defense Ministry,” the statement read. BIDEN SILENT AFTER BEING PRESSED ABOUT IRANIAN STRIKE AGAINST ISRAEL: ‘WHAT NOW?’ “In addition, we continue to work through the Department of Defense and U.S. Central Command to further strengthen and expand the successful integration of air and missile defense and early warning systems across the Middle East to further erode the effectiveness of Iran’s missile and UAV capabilities.” Sullivan said that the actions the U.S. is taking will “continue a steady drumbeat of pressure to contain and degrade Iran’s military capacity and effectiveness and confront the full range of its problematic behaviors.” “Over the last three years, in addition to missile and drone-related sanctions, the United States has sanctioned over 600 individuals and entities connected to terrorism, terrorist financing and other forms of illicit trade, horrific human rights abuses, and support for proxy terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Kataib Hezbollah,” the statement added. “The pressure will continue. We will not hesitate to continue to take action, in coordination with allies and partners around the world, and with Congress, to hold the Iranian government accountable for its malicious and destabilizing actions.” HOUSE TEES UP 17 BILLS RELATED TO IRAN/ISRAEL FOR THIS WEEK The Biden administration has been heavily criticized by Republicans over its treatment of Iran over the past three years. In addition to the November 2023 waiver extension, the White House also unlocked $6 billion in sanctions relief for Iran as part of a prisoner swap deal in September 2023 – mere weeks before the October 7 attacks. “Under President Trump, Iran was broke,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said on X Saturday. “President Biden gifted them billions of dollars and then naively said ‘don’t.’” “‘Don’t’ is not a foreign policy. Joe Biden’s policies have funded Iran’s attack on Israel,” Blackburn continued. In October, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby maintained to Fox News that the Iranian regime has had no access to any of the unfrozen funds. “It’s not that we’re not enforcing sanctions. We have been enforcing them. As a matter of fact, we’ve added sanctions. We’ve sanctioned 400 entities in Iran just in the beginning of this administration, let alone the sanctions that came before us,” Kirby explained. “As for the fungibility, again, that money was never going to be tapped by the Iranian regime,” he continued. “They were never going to see it themselves. It was always going to go to vendors that we approved to go to buy humanitarian assistance and medical and food… directly to the Iranian people. The regime was never going to see that or feel that, and they haven’t asked for it.”
People with disabilities sue in Wisconsin over lack of electronic absentee ballots
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters with disabilities should be able to cast their ballots electronically and failure to provide that option for the upcoming Aug. 13 primary and November presidential election is discriminatory and unconstitutional, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the battleground state alleges. The lawsuit seeks to require that electronic absentee voting be an option for people with disabilities, just as it is for military and overseas voters. Under current Wisconsin law, people with disabilities are “treated unequally and face real and considerable hurdles to participating in absentee voting,” the lawsuit argues. WI ELECTIONS COMMISSION APPROVES GUIDANCE, VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES CAN RECEIVE HELP WITH ABSENTEE BALLOTS Absentee ballots, including who can return them and where, have been a political flashpoint in swing state Wisconsin, where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by less than a percentage point. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments next month in a case seeking to overturn a previous ruling banning absentee ballot drop boxes. A federal court sided with disability rights activists in 2022 and said the Voting Rights Act applies to Wisconsin voters who require assistance with mailing or delivering their absentee ballot because of a disability. The ruling overturned a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that said only the voter can return their ballot in person or place it in the mail. The new case was filed against the Wisconsin Elections Commission in Dane County Circuit Court by four voters, Disability Rights Wisconsin and the League of Women Voters. Riley Vetterkind, a spokesperson for the elections commission, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Voters with disabilities must have the ability to vote electronically in order for Wisconsin to comply with a variety of state and federal laws related to accommodation and equal-access, the lawsuit argues. Electronic voting will also ensure that people with disabilities are treated the same as other voters, the lawsuit contends. The lawsuit states that because absentee voting for most in Wisconsin is by paper ballot, many people with disabilities are unable to cast their votes without assistance. They could vote in private if electronic voting were an option, the lawsuit argues. “This unconstitutional defect in Wisconsin’s absentee ballot system is well-known yet remains unaddressed,” the lawsuit alleges. The individuals who brought the lawsuit are Donald Natzke, of Shorewood, and Michael Christopher, of Madison, both of whom are blind; Stacy Ellingen, of Oshkosh, who has cerebral palsy; and Tyler Engel, of Madison, who has spinal muscular atrophy. All four of them are unable to vote absentee privately and independently, the lawsuit argues. The lawsuit alleges that not providing electronic absentee voting for people with disabilities violates the state and federal constitutions, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the federal Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits all organizations that receive federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of disability. People with disabilities make up about one-fourth of the U.S. adult population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They have been ensnared in battles over access to the polls as many Republican-led states have passed restrictive voting laws in recent years, including over limits on what assistance a voter can receive and whether someone else can return a voter’s mailed ballot.