TODAY’S ELECTIONS story

Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limits

What happened
The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to hear a case that could decide how — and when — mail-in ballots for federal elections are counted. The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, is the “latest of several high-profile voting cases” the court has taken up this term, said CNN.

Who said what
More than two dozen states allow mail-in ballots postmarked before Election Day to be counted days later, a “grace period” that “aids voters — including military personnel — whose ballots are delayed for reasons outside their control,” said Politico. The justices agreed to consider the challenge from the RNC and Mississippi Republicans and Libertarians over a state law that allows mail-in votes to be counted up to five days after Election Day.

The “conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit invalidated that law, finding that federal law requires all ballots to be received by Election Day,” The Washington Post said. Mississippi urged the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling, arguing in a brief that it “invites nationwide litigation against laws in most states — risking chaos in the next federal elections.”

What next?
The Supreme Court is expected to issue its “potential blockbuster” rulings on this and “two other crucial elections-related cases” by the “end of June or early July,” The New York Times said. A decision overturning Mississippi’s law “could upend mail-in ballot rules in dozens of states” in time to roil the 2026 midterm elections.

TODAY’S CLEMENCY Story

Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP allies

What happened
President Donald Trump has pardoned Rudy Giuliani (pictured above) and other allies who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss in court, Trump pardon attorney Ed Martin said on social media late Sunday. Martin’s office yesterday posted a list of other unannounced pardons, including the husband of Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) and two former Tennessee GOP lawmakers awaiting prison on public corruption charges, as Trump continues to use the “unfettered presidential clemency power” to “reward allies and make political points,” The New York Times said.

Who said what
Trump’s election-interference “mass pardon — the first in history to cover people accused of criminally conspiring with the president who issued it” — is his latest effort to “erase the stain of his failed attempt to subvert” his 2020 loss, Politico said. He already pardoned the “mob of Trump supporters” who participated in the “violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.”

The clemency for Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Boris Epshteyn and others involved in fake electors schemes “appeared to carry no immediate practical effect,” as none of them “have been charged with federal crimes” and Trump can’t pardon them over pending state charges, The Washington Post said. But they “signaled Trump’s continued focus on relitigating his 2020 defeat,” elevating an “obsession that animates elements of his base but alienates many others.”

What next?
Trump’s critics “see the pardon as a permission slip for similar efforts in 2026 and 2028,” Politico said. The president is “sending a message to his supporters that if you commit a crime in the name of Donald Trump, I’ve got your back,” said former U.S. pardon attorney Liz Oyer.

It’s not all bad

Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts returned two stoneware vessels in its collection to the descendants of the artist, David Drake. An enslaved man, Drake made thousands of ceramic pieces in South Carolina and inscribed poems on many of his works, a “significant” feat since literacy was criminalized among enslaved people, the museum said. Drake’s family sold one of the returned jars to the museum and is letting the other stay on view on a long-term loan.

Under the radar

Mexico’s harassment problem felt by president

The public groping of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has brought the epidemic of violence against women into sharp focus. Sheinbaum (pictured above) was speaking to a group of supporters in Mexico City last week when a man tried to kiss her on the neck and touch her chest. Video footage “quickly ricocheted across the internet,” said Reuters, “underscoring for many in Mexico the insecurity that women face.”

Sheinbaum subsequently decided to press charges because, she said, the suspect allegedly harassed other women in the crowd. “If I don’t file a complaint, what will happen to other Mexican women?” she said. “If this happens to the president, where does that leave all the young women in our country?”

The incident has “sparked outrage” in Mexico, said The Guardian. For many women, watching the country’s first female president being groped in public was a “personal affront” and a reflection of their own experiences.

Rights groups say the public groping shows the “extent of ingrained machismo” in Mexico, said the BBC. It’s a culture where a man “believes he has the right to accost even the president if she is a woman,” but also where femicide is a “huge problem” — a “staggering 98% of gender-based murders” are estimated to go unpunished.

Since Sheinbaum’s election last October, she “has made clear progress” on women’s rights, said The New York Times. But “non-lethal violence against women has hardly budged.” Among Mexico’s 32 federal entities — Mexico City and 31 states — “only 16 criminalise sexual harassment,” said Al Jazeera. Sheinbaum has now unveiled a new national initiative against sexual abuse, including a push to make harassment punishable in every state.

On this day

November 11, 1918

The Allies and Germany signed the armistice that brought World War I to an end. The resulting Treaty of Versailles, however, contributed to the outbreak of World War II 21 years later. Originally called Armistice Day, Nov. 11 is now celebrated as Veterans Day in the U.S. and Remembrance Day in the U.K. and other countries around the world.

TODAY’S newspaperS

‘Democrats balk’

“Syrian leader warms to Trump, U.S. partnership,” The Wall Street Journal says on Tuesday’s front page. “Rift among Democrats puts Congress on path for ending shutdown,” The New York Times says. “Shutdown deal advances as Democrats balk” and “push for new Senate leader,” says the Los Angeles Times. “Effects to linger even after shutdown ends,” says USA Today. “President again appeals to justices in SNAP fight,” The Washington Post says. “Supreme Court denies request to revisit same-sex marriage decision,” says the Miami Herald. “Trump pardons Giuliani, other architects of ‘stop the steal’ linked to Jan. 6 riot,” making “like it never happened,” says the New York Daily News.

► See the newspaper front pages

Tall tale

Dead giveaway

For $144, Paris residents can enter a lottery to purchase a plot in a historic cemetery, securing a final resting place near Oscar Wilde or Édith Piaf. The money raised will be used to restore tombs at the famous Père-Lachaise, Montparnasse and Montmartre cemeteries. It has been billed as a “rare opportunity” to score a plot, as most Parisian cemeteries have been near capacity for decades. Lottery winners will be able to purchase one of 30 tombs for $4,600, plus restoration and lease costs.

Morning Report was written and edited by Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harriet Marsden, Rafi Schwartz, Peter Weber and Kari Wilkin, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.