Three Things for January 20
1. Voting bill blocked in Senate
On Wednesday, Jan. 19, the Senate considered and blocked an elections bill.
After a full day of debate and speeches, the Democratic Party could not persuade holdout senators Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and Joe Manchin (WV) to change the Senate procedures on the bill and allow the majority to advance it. The bill was rejected 52-48, with Manchin and Sinema joining the Republican Party in opposition.
According to AP News, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act would ban partisan gerrymandering and force “dark money” groups to disclose their major donors. It would create national automatic voter registration, allow all voters to cast ballots by mail and weaken voter ID laws.
“Advocates say new voting protections would counter a wave of recent restrictions passed in 19 states,” reports AP News.
This bill would also deem Election Day a national holiday, ensure access to early voting and mail-in ballots — which have become especially popular during the COVID-19 pandemic — and enable the Justice Department to intervene in states with a history of voter interference, among other changes, according to AP News.
“I am profoundly disappointed that the United States Senate has failed to stand up for our democracy. I am disappointed — but I am not deterred,” President Joe Biden said in a statement after the vote. “My Administration will never stop fighting to ensure that the heart and soul of our democracy — the right to vote — is protected at all costs.”
For more information on the bill and Senate debates, read the full AP News article.
2. Winter storm to bring snow and ice threats to the South
A winter storm is expected to bring snow and ice to parts of the South and southern mid-Atlantic at the end of this week, according to the Weather Channel.
The storm could possibly deliver ice heavy enough to knock out power lines and cause tree damage in the Carolinas.
The system has been named Winter Storm Jasper by The Weather Channel.
This forecast arrives as many parts of the country are still dealing with the aftermath of snow and ice left in Winter Storm Izzy's wake, including thousands of canceled flights, power outages and at least two deaths after a car crash in North Carolina., according to the Weather Channel.
To view a list of precautions in the case of extreme cold, view Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s resources here.
3. Prosecutors file charges against driver of a Tesla on autopilot
Los Angeles County prosecutors recently filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against a driver using autopilot.
According to the LA Times, the defendant appears to be the first person in the United States to be charged with a felony for a fatal crash involving a motorist who was using a partially automated driving system.
On Dec. 29, 2019, a Honda Civic pulled up to an intersection just after midnight. The traffic light was green. As the Honda proceeded through the intersection, a 2016 Tesla Model S on autopilot ran through a red light and crashed into the Honda. The Civic’s driver, Gilberto Alcazar Lopez, and his passenger, Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez, were killed instantly.
The case of 27-year-old Kevin George Aziz Riad, the driver of the Tesla, represents a milestone in the increasingly confusing world of automated driving, reports the LA Times.
“It’s a wake-up call for drivers,” said Alain Kornhauser, director of the self-driving car program at Princeton University. “It certainly makes us, all of a sudden, not become so complacent in the use of these things that we forget about the fact that we’re the ones that are responsible — not only for our own safety but for the safety of others.”
