Here’s what’s coming up on Texas Standard for Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Listen on your Texas public radio station, or ask your smart speaker to play Texas Standard. We’ll have full posts for each story, including audio, a little later today.
Election Day Preview
Evan Smith, CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune and Karen Tumulty, a San Antonio native and political columnist for The Washington Post talk to the Standard about how this election is different from previous ones, voter turnout and what down ballot races are being closely watched.
Vote Counting
The flurry of Election Day is quickly followed by Election Night, that anxious ritual spent glued to the TV, radio or smartphone. But experts say with an increase in voter turnout, coupled with hyper-competitive contests, it could be awhile before there is a final tally. KERA’s Bret Jaspers reports on how our votes are counted in Texas.
Future of Housing First Under Trump
The outcome of the presidential election will predict which path a bipartisan housing strategy for people experiencing homelessness, will take. Last month, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced plans to scale back Housing First, a program designed to get people who are homeless into permanent housing quickly, without barriers such as sobriety or participation in other treatment programs. Cossy Hough, a clinical associate professor at UT-Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work, talks to the Standard.
Census Falsification Lawsuit
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Census Bureau stopped counting people. The bureau claimed that it had reached 99.9% of all U.S. households for the 2020 census. But a new lawsuit from local governments and advocacy groups claim those numbers were falsified by the Census Bureau to speed up the annual headcount. Mike Schneider, who’s been covering this story for the Associated Press, talks to the Standard.
COVID Spike in El Paso: Learning from the RGV
The number of COVID-19 cases in El Paso continues to soar. Hospitals are at capacity and some patients are being airlifted to other cities. The local county judge has ordered a two-week shutdown of non-essential services. El Paso’s situation is similar to what happened earlier this year when the Rio Grande Valley became a COVID hotspot. KERA’s Mallory Falk spoke to one health official about what El Paso can learn from that region.
COVID and Asthma
Cold, dry air can be a trigger for asthma. The fall months are also the traditional start of flu season which can be worse for those who already have trouble breathing. This year, with the coronavirus, there’s even more to worry about. Dr. Kavita Patel, an expert in pediatric pulmonary medicine with Texas Children’s Speciality Care in Austin talks to the Standard.
Legal Issues with Voting
Many expect a range of legal issues to emerge and be argued over before we’ll know the final outcome of the election tally tonight. Lawyers for both Republicans and Democrats are prepping for potential court challenges The validity of 127,000 ballots cast at drive-through voting sites in Harris County remains intact despite a last-minute effort by a group of Republicans to challenge this manner of voting. Steve Vladeck, the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law, talks to the Standard about what the public should expect to see tonight and in the coming days.
All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.
