Midterm Election results continue to come in days after polls close

Even though the final polls closed on Tuesday night, results continue to pour in from around the United States. States such as Arizona, Georgia, and Florida report that there are still outstanding ballots needed to be counted. In these three states, both gubernatorial and senatorial races are within the margin created by the votes yet to be counted.
Early Friday, Arizona Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema gained a slight lead over Martha Mcsally. If Sinema holds her lead of Mcsally, she would give the Democrats their first Senate seat that was taken back from the Republicans. This victory would narrow the Republicans majority in the Senate and make it more likely that the chamber could be flipped in the 2020 election.
Elections in both Florida and Georgia have become the focus of both parties after accusations of voter suppression and election fraud have become more relevant due to razor thin margins. In Georgia, voting rights activists have claimed Brian Kemp's purging of voter rolls could have suppressed some votes. Democrats are also hoping that enough votes could come in to bring his margin below 50% and force a mandatory runoff election. In Florida, Conservatives have called foul due to votes pouring in from Broward County and Palm Beach County. Many of these votes have favored Andrew Gillum and Bill Nelson.
Regardless of the result of these races, these close margins and controversy regarding access to voting and election fraud will call additional attention to the broader discussion about issues such as voter ID laws and recount procedures.

Questions:
What impact do you think Georgia's voter registration laws had on the result of the election there?
What precautions should be instituted to make sure voting is accessible to all eligible citizens but also defend the legitimacy of our polls?

Dollar dips after midterm elections

Yesterday, after the democrats took the House of Representatives, the dollar bill's value dropped .3%. Furthermore, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.221 percent.
Mazen Issa, senior foreign exchange strategist at TD Securities in New York, said that because of the midterm elections, trading has become "Risk-on." Risk-on, Risk-off investing is when investors move from riskier but more high-yielding investments to less risky and low yielding investments, or vice-versa.
This year, Trump and congressional Republicans passed a significant tax cut, and due to strong economic growth, the U.S. Federal Reserve has been steadily raising interest rates. Due to the Democrats taking control of the House, further tax cuts are not likely to be passed.
https://www.ft.com/content/b5cdc7f0-e238-11e8-a6e5-792428919cee

Questions:
1. Will the increase in Risk-spenders help the US economy?
2. Do you see any other consequences of the midterm elections relating to fiscal policy?

Jeff Sessions Resigns at Trump’s Request

On Wednesday, November 7, Jeff Sessions resigned his position as attorney general under pressure from President Trump just one day after the midterm elections. After Session received much criticism from the president for recusing himself from the Mueller investigation, due to the fact that he had a conflict of interest since he was a party to the investigation himself, Trump requested that he resign. In a tweet following Sessions' resignation, Trump stated that Matthew Whitaker, an outsider in the Washington political sphere, will take over as acting attorney general instead of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein who would traditionally be next in line. Democrats immediately requested Whitaker to recuse himself, as Sessions had, because of his CNN article openly criticizing the severity of the Mueller investigation. Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, openly agreed that Whitaker should not gain insight on the investigation because of his bias on the issue.

Now the question is: What does this mean for the Mueller Investigation? Trump's decision to force Sessions' resignation could backfire. Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, argues that even though Trump’s decision is not an obstructive act it could add to the entirety of the circumstances surrounding the investigation. Once the Democrats take the house in January they could choose to subpoena Whitaker to testify under oath as an inquiry into his appointment. However on the other hand, now that Whitaker is in charge of the investigation he could opt to take actions to shut it down before Democrats are able to take action.

Connection: Trump's ability to appoint Whitaker as acting attorney general highlights the power of appointment given to the President by the Constitution.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/07/539109386/jeff-sessions-out-as-attorney-general-after-steady-drumbeat-of-criticism-from-tr

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/07/politics/sessions-resign/index.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/bob-mueller-jeff-sessions-firing-matthew-whitaker/575248/

Questions

1. How did the 2018 midterm elections impact the progression of the Mueller investigation?
2. Do you think that Trump's decision to appoint Whitaker as acting attorney general will ultimately hurt or help him?

Judge Rules Against Georgia's Voter ID Laws

The Georgia governor's race has drawn lots of attention from individuals across the country. The current Secretary of State of Georgia, Brian Kemp, is facing Stacey Abrams who hopes to become the first black female governor. With this race, the controversial voter ID "exact match" law has sent much of the population of Georgia into a frenzy.

The "exact match" law flags voter's who have discrepancies between their registration and other identification documents used by the state of Georgia. These discrepancies can include small changes in punctuation such as hyphens and accent marks. Individuals who fail to have an exact match can still vote if they can prove their identity to a deputy registrar. Recently, civil rights groups filed a lawsuit stating that this voter ID law discriminates against many of the minority voters, especially blacks. But, others, including GOP candidate Brian Kemp, believe this law is essential for voter ID integrity.

Just this Friday (11/2), Judge Eleanor Ross ruled that this law was unfair and placed a severe burden on minority individuals. Ultimately, the Court was concerned with the treatment of certain sectors within the state of Georgia. This ruling established the following: poll workers had to allow any citizen the right to vote in Georgia (they had to present proof of citizenship) and Kemp had to make a news release that helped those who were previously flagged become un-flagged. According to the Associated Press, under the "exact match" law Brian Kemp had stalled more than 50,000 voter registrations by mostly black voters. With the prohibition of the exact match, the Court hopes that voter discrimination will decrease.

This controversial election and voter ID news has drawn attention from many, including Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump. Voter ID laws continue to impact other states as some vouch for them and others greatly disapprove.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/03/663937578/judge-rules-against-georgia-election-law-calling-it-a-severe-burden-for-voters

https://www.jurist.org/news/2018/11/federal-judge-blocks-georgia-exact-match-voter-id-law/

Questions:
1. How would democracy shift if all voter ID laws were abolished? Would this help or hurt the integrity of our country?
2. Can voter ID laws determine the outcome of elections (candidates chosen)? If so, how?