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Federal Court Blocks South Carolina Witness Requirement That Would Put Voters at Risk During COVID-19 Pandemic
Columbia, S.C.
A federal court today blocked a South Carolina requirement that forced people who vote absentee to obtain a witness signature. The ruling, which applies to the June primary, makes it safer for South Carolinians to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund successfully challenged the requirement, which if allowed to stay in effect could have disenfranchised tens of thousands of eligible voters who could not risk contact with other individuals to vote in person or obtain a witness signature on their absentee ballot.
The following reactions are from:
Adriel Cepeda Derieux, a staff attorney with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project: "The court recognized the gravity of forcing voters to needlessly risk their health to obtain a witness signature. This ruling means voters in South Carolina can safely cast a ballot in the June primary elections in this time of COVID-19. It is a huge victory."
Susan Dunn, legal director of the ACLU of South Carolina: "This ruling is a critical victory for our democracy and all voters in South Carolina. The elimination of the witness requirement protects not only those who are most vulnerable to the pandemic, it also ensures that no one will have to risk exposure to COVID-19 in order to exercise their fundamental right to vote in the primary elections."
Deuel Ross, senior counsel at LDF: "Today's decision represents an enormous victory for our clients and all South Carolinians. The temporary suspension of the witness signature requirement for absentee ballots removes a needless barrier that required people to violate social distancing protocols to vote. Now, everyone can vote in the June elections without the fear of endangering their health. This win is especially important for black voters, who are more likely to be infected by COVID-19 and more likely to die from it than other South Carolinians. The court's decision protects the safety and well-being of those voters who are most at risk from COVID-19."
The lawsuit, Thomas v. Andino, was filed in U.S. District Court in Columbia, S.C.
Ruling: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/order-south-carolina-pi-granted
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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'The Constitution Is Clear and the Stakes Are High': Coalition Demands Congress Rein In Pro-War Trump
"From Greenland to Venezuela to Iran, President Trump has shown that he is willing to recklessly enter military conflicts without congressional support," noted an Issue One campaigner.
Apr 14, 2026
With the status of US-Iran talks unclear halfway through a two-week ceasefire, a dozen faith, science, veterans, and watchdog groups on Monday pressured key congressional committee leaders to swiftly reassert Congress' "constitutional authority over matters of war and peace," and put an end to President Donald Trump's new conflict in the Middle East.
"The founders were clear: Article I of the Constitution vests in Congress—not the president—the sole authority to declare war, fund military action, and oversee its execution," stresses the letter, addressed to leaders of both congressional foreign relations panels: Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), and Sens. James Risch (R-Idaho) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
Abigail Bellows, senior policy director for anti-corruption and accountability at Common Cause, one of the groups behind the letter, said in a statement that "the Constitution places decisions of war and peace in the hands of Congress because the American people deserve a voice before their lives and tax dollars are put on the line."
The letter acknowledges that "over time, presidents of both parties have pushed the limits of their constitutional authority, gradually eroding Congress' role in decisions of war and peace. Reasserting Article I authority is not about one president or one party. It is about restoring the constitutional balance that protects our democracy, our national security, and our troops."
Víctor Guillén, director of national campaigns at Issue One, which spearheaded the letter, said that "while presidents of both parties have stretched the boundaries of constitutional authority, we are especially concerned about the actions of President Trump. From Greenland to Venezuela to Iran, President Trump has shown that he is willing to recklessly enter military conflicts without congressional support."
"His impulsiveness has led to suffering for millions of Americans, from American troops who were wounded and killed to people living paycheck to paycheck, wondering how they will afford groceries, gas, or childcare," Guillén said of Trump. "Now that Congress has seen what the president is capable of, it must stop the president from repeating it."
"If Congress does not check him now," the campaigner declared, "the president will most likely start more poorly planned and pointless conflicts in the future—on Truth Social, no less—to the detriment of the American people and citizens around the world."
Trump and Israel's war on Iran has already led to thousands of deaths across the Middle East, plus damaged civilian infrastructure throughout Iran. Israeli forces have also ramped up attacks on Lebanon, including during the ceasefire agreed to last week.
"Every moment lawmakers fail to act weakens accountability and puts both our democracy and more lives at risk," said Bellows. "Common Cause stands ready to work with Congress to restore the proper balance of power and ensure that decisions about war reflect the will of the people."
Specifically, the coalition is calling on lawmakers to:
- Advance measures requiring congressional authorization before further military escalation;
- Conduct robust oversight of ongoing military operations and expenditures;
- Reaffirm Congress' Article I authority over war powers and the use of taxpayer funds; and
- Revisit and reform the War Powers Resolution to ensure that Congress has a meaningful consultative and decision-making role in any significant military deployment.
"This is a bipartisan responsibility," the letter emphasizes. "The Constitution is clear and the stakes are high."
The letter's other signatories are Democracy Matters, Faith in Democracy, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Principles First, Project on Government Oversight, Protect Democracy, RepresentUs, Stand Up America, The Chamberlain Network, and Union of Concerned Scientists.
So far, nearly all Republicans and a short list of Democrats in the GOP-controlled Congress have blocked multiple war powers resolutions on Iran and Trump's other unauthorized military action. Another round of votes on Iran are expected this week.
US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also plans to force senators to consider cutting off the flow of Americans weapons to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government over its genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.
Specifically, on Wednesday, Sanders intends to force votes on a pair of resolutions that would prohibit a $151.8 million sale of 12,000 BLU-110A/B general purpose 1,000-pound "dumb" gravity bombs and related logistics and technical support services, as well as a $295 million sale of Caterpillar bulldozers along with related materials and support.
"US taxpayers have spent tens of billions of dollars in support of the racist, extremist Netanyahu government. Enough is enough," Sanders said Tuesday. "The United States must use the leverage we have—tens of billions in arms and military aid—to demand that Israel ends these atrocities."
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With Help From Trump-GOP Law, At Least 88 Big US Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Income Tax Last Year
The companies avoided more than $26.7 billion in income taxes last year, enough to give free school lunches to every child in America.
Apr 14, 2026
Dozens of America's most profitable corporations avoided paying any federal income taxes in 2025, according to an analysis out on Tuesday from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
The 88 companies—which include Tesla, Southwest Airlines, Live Nation, Palantir, Citigroup, and many others listed in the S&P 500—brought in a collective $105 billion in pretax income last year.
ITEP found that 2025 saw a spike in corporate tax avoidance, enabled in part by new loopholes created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Donald Trump and by his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which reduced the corporate tax rate to 21% from its previous 35%.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is expected to hand the wealthiest 1% of Americans $117 billion in tax cuts this year, while those in the bottom 95% are set to pay more in taxes while facing across-the-board cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
It also allowed multimillion- and billion-dollar corporations to find new ways to avoid paying taxes. More than half of the tax-avoiders listed in the report used a provision in the new tax law allowing companies to immediately write off capital investments, reducing their collective taxes by $11.4 billion.
Pharmaceutical and tech companies, meanwhile, were able to take advantage of tax write-offs for research and development, exempting them from approximately another $4.4 billion.
In total, the corporate tax avoidance documented in 2025 by the researchers helped to rob the public coffers of yet another $26.7 billion, enough to give every public school student a free lunch for a year, according to a University of Missouri analysis of the National School Lunch Program.
The researchers said that the full scale of corporate tax avoidance remains unclear, since corporate tax returns are not publicly available. Some companies were also excluded because they are not part of the S&P 500 or have not yet reported their 2025 taxes.
“These findings are not isolated cases—they reflect systemic deficiencies in the corporate tax code,” said Amy Hanauer, the executive director for ITEP. “Without meaningful reform, profitable corporations will continue to pay less than their fair share.”
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'We Are at a Dangerous Precipice': Raskin Bill Would Create Commission to Examine President's Fitness
"We have a solemn duty to play our defined role under the 25th Amendment by setting up this body to act alongside the vice president and the Cabinet."
Apr 14, 2026
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would establish a congressional commission tasked with determining whether the president is able to continue executing the duties of the office.
The bill, titled the Commission on Presidential Capacity Act, would also set up "expedited" emergency procedures under which Congress could activate the newly created commission and fast-track its consideration of presidential fitness.
As envisioned by Raskin, this commission would act as a legislative counterpart to the US vice president and the president's Cabinet, which the text of the 25th Amendment grants the power to declare the president incapacitated. The 25th Amendment also gives that power to a majority "of such other body as Congress may by law provide."
"The Constitution explicitly vests Congress with the authority to create a body that will guarantee the successful continuity of government by responding to presidential incapacity to discharge the powers and duties of office," said Raskin. "We have a solemn duty to play our defined role under the 25th Amendment by setting up this body to act alongside the vice president and the Cabinet."
Raskin pointed to Trump's recent erratic behavior to argue that Congress needed to take a more assertive role in determining whether he has the mental capacity to serve in the most powerful office in the federal government.
"Public trust in Donald Trump’s ability to meet the duties of his office has dropped to unprecedented lows," the Maryland Democrat said, "as he threatens to destroy entire civilizations, unleashes chaos in the Middle East while violating Congressional war powers, aggressively insults the pope of the Catholic Church, and sends out artistic renderings online likening himself to Jesus Christ."
Raskin went on to warn that "we are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress to fulfill its responsibilities under the 25th Amendment to protect the American people from an increasingly volatile and unstable situation."
Fifty House Democrats signed on as original co-sponsors of Raskin's bill, which is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives.
Calls for invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office grew louder last week after Trump declared that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again," unless Iran agreed to meet his demands.
In a letter sent to congressional leaders on Monday, four psychiatrists warned that Trump's "behavior and rhetoric... have crossed a threshold that demands the immediate and bipartisan attention of Congress."
The psychiatrists added that Trump "exhibits what forensic mental health experts have, across dozens of independent assessments, identified as the 'Dark Triad' of personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy."
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