Your Summit Weekly Briefing

By Alex Tananbaum

Staff Writer

IF YOU ARE 18 OR OVER, OR WILL BE BY ELECTION DAY, REGISTER TO VOTE!

California Information:

Register (or pre-register if you are currently under 18) at registertovote.ca.gov
Voting by mail: You should receive your mail-in ballot October 12th. USPS is currently anticipating delays— make sure to mail your ballot as soon as possible so your vote is counted.
Voting in person: Election Day is November 3rd. Find your nearest polling station at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/polling-place
- Ballot drop box location list: www.sos.ca.gov/elections/polling-place (same list as above)
Important dates: www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/voting-california/election-dates-and-resources
Frequently Asked Questions: www.sos.ca.gov/elections/frequently-asked-questions/

Washington Information:

Register (or pre-register if you are currently under 18) at www.sos.wa.gov/elections/register.aspx
Voting by mail: You should receive your mail-in ballot by October 16th. SPS is currently anticipating delays— make sure to mail your ballot as soon as possible so your vote is counted.
- Ballot drop box location list: www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/ballot%20drop%20boxes%202019%20general%20election.pdf
Voting in person: Election Day is November 3rd. Find your nearest polling station at www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/voting%20centers%202019%20general%20election.pdf
Important dates: www.sos.wa.gov/elections/dates-and-deadlines.aspx
Frequently Asked Questions: www.sos.wa.gov/elections/faq_vote_by_mail.aspx

Editor’s note: Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Hello. Yesterday, Oct. 12, was Indigenous People’s Day. Indigenous People’s Day is a specific time for native people to celebrate their culture and heritage. Find out how to support indigenous Americans this year in the Actions section of your briefing.

1. Trump resumes White House events

On Saturday Oct. 10, Trump held his first official event since his Coronavirus diagnosis last Friday. He spoke for 18 minutes to a crowd of mostly non-socially distanced/mask wearing Black, Latinx and Hispanic voters. This comes after a marathon of conservative media outlet interviews on Friday.

More: Though 2,000 invitations were sent out, Trump only spoke to a crowd of around 400 people.

The Hatch Act: The Saturday event was held in front of The White House, which some assert is a violation of the Hatch Act, which stipulates that federal employees cannot “use official authority or influence to interfere with an election” (such as campaigning outside of the White House). However, the Saturday gathering was classified as an official event, not a campaign event. Furthermore, the President is exempt from the Hatch Act (possibly).

2. Covid-19: Fewer deaths expected by Jan 1st, Virus surges in Europe

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington has forecasted 378,321 total US deaths due to Coronavirus by January 1st— a 36,769 person drop from last week’s prediction of 415,090. According to IHME, “This decline is driven by steeper than expected declines seen in deaths in several states,” (via CNN). Currently, there have been 214,000 reported deaths due to Covid-19, though this might be an undercount due to discrepancies in state reports.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has reported a climb in cases in Europe. According to regional director Hans Kluge, “Weekly cases have now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March,” (via CNN). Eased lockdown restrictions may be one of the factors in the rise in cases.

Stay Informed: CNN reports live, bite-sized updates on Coronavirus here.

3. Second Presidential Debate canceled

The Second Presidential Debate, which would have been held this Tuesday, has been officially canceled. The Commission on Presidential Debates, which is nonpartisan, made the decision to hold the debate virtually after Trump contracted Covid-19 last week. However, Trump refused to participate in a non-live event, advocating instead for the debate to be postponed until he has recovered fully.

Related: Biden will be holding a town hall Tuesday night as a sort of debate replacement. It will air live on NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC at 5 pm PST. It is also streamable on NBCNews.com. Find more ways to watch here.

4. Final game between Miami Heat and LA Lakers

The Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Lakers in a 111-108 Saturday night. After last night’s Game 5 of the playoffs, the Heat is catching up to the Lakers’ lead of 3 games to 2. Game 6 of 7 will be played Tuesday night.

5. Summit Public Schools

Yesterday was Indigenous People’s day. You may be wondering: why don’t we celebrate Christopher Columbus day anymore? If so, check out my colleague Sarai Carpio-Au’s article “An Introduction To Overlooked American History.” It summarizes Christopher Columbus’s misdeeds quickly and concisely.

Trigger warning: Article includes mentions of rape.

6. Actions

Editor’s note: each week, I will be posting petitions to sign/actions to take to support the BLM movement, ICE detainees, and other important matters. Remember, your voice counts, so use it.

This week, I will be highlighting actions that aid indigenous people. Please note that the following actions were lifted from @lilnativeboy’s Instagram linktr.ee. Find the entire list here.

Sign this petition to demand Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez allow Diné (indigenous Navajo) organizations to continue humanitarian relief during Covid-19.
Sign the petitions in this list to urge schools to change offensive Native American mascots.
Sign this petition to stop Mark Zuckerberg from suing indigenous Hawai’ians for their land.

Other actions:

Watch or listen or listen to this playlist. All advertisement revenue goes to Black Lives Matter. I currently have it on in the background as I am writing this brief. Do not skip the ads, the donations will not go through otherwise.

Watch or listen to this video. All advertisement revenue goes to various aid organizations easing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Please note it is blocked on school Chromebooks due to being in the “Entertainment” category
- Learn more about the crisis at www.monareliefye.org/.