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Ex-USPS Subcontractor Says Colleagues ‘Ordered to Backdate Ballots’

Former US Postal Service subcontractor Ethan Pease alleged USPS workers were ordered to backdate ballots received too late so that they could be lawfully counted, detailing the allegation during a Tuesday press conference hosted by the Amistad Project of the Thomas More Society.

Pease explained he worked as a temporary hire at United Mailing Services (UMS), a USPS subcontractor in Wisconsin, in the weeks leading up to Election Day.

He worked as a route driver, delivering mail to UMS for sorting, and he would transport it to USPS. In September and October, he delivered mail-in ballots from UMS to USPS.

“On November 2, 2020, I noticed that there was only one ballot in the bin for delivery to USPS. And on November 3, Election Day, there were no ballots in the bin for delivery,” he said.

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NYC bar owner who defied coronavirus restrictions arrested

An owner of a New York City bar that was providing indoor service in defiance of coronavirus restrictions was arrested after a sting in which plainclothes officers went inside and ordered food and beverages, the city sheriff’s office said.

Protesters shouted as deputies arrested Danny Presti, the co-owner of Mac’s Public House on Staten Island, on Tuesday.

The tavern is in an area designated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as an orange zone because of spiking COVID-19 rates and was not supposed to be serving customers indoors. But the owners had declared the bar an “autonomous zone,” a nod to protesters who claimed control over a Seattle neighborhood in June.

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New Jersey weighs ‘social equity’ tax on marijuana

New Jersey lawmakers may include a so-called social equity tax in the legislation establishing a legal market for recreational marijuana, according to reports.

Bills in the state Senate and Assembly would give cannabis regulators the authority to impose the “social equity excise fee,” which would help fund programs aimed at reducing racial disparities caused by drug laws.

The influential Legislative Black Caucus has lobbied for programs aimed at helping Black communities, which have been hard-hit by marijuana prohibition. Black residents are likelier to be arrested on marijuana charges than white residents, for example.

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