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A2 UP FRONT
Friday 18 September 2020
They also said the changes earlier this year on enve-
interfered with their consti- lopes that met election
tutional authority to admin- mail standards — only to
ister their elections. learn that the Postal Ser-
At the hearing, Justice De- vice wouldn't treat them as
partment attorney Joseph first class mail. In Madison,
Borson sought to assure the Wisconsin, the number of
judge that the Postal Ser- ballots that weren't count-
vice would handle election ed because they arrived
mail promptly, noting that late for the August primary
a surge of ballots in the mail doubled from the August
would pale in comparison 2018 primary.
to increases from, say, holi- Further, they cited research
day cards. from information technolo-
He also said slow-downs gy consultant Mynor Urizar-
caused by the "leave be- Hunter, who helped start a
hind" policy had gotten website tracking the USPS
better since it was first im- changes, noting that 78%
plemented, and that the of the machines slated for
Postal Service in reality had removal were in counties
made no changes with re- won by Democrat Hillary
gard to how it classifies and Clinton in 2016.
processes election mail. In this Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, file photo, a person drops applications for mail-in-ballots into a mail The states suing are Wash-
DeJoy has repeatedly in- box in Omaha, Neb. ington, Michigan, Wiscon-
sisted that processing elec- Associated Press sin, Nevada, Colorado,
tion mail remains the orga- Connecticut, Illinois, Mary-
nization's top priority. ing counted "can simply sion itself — even though in July, but they said on- land, Minnesota, New Mex-
"There's been a lot of con- promptly drop their ballots by law the commission has time deliveries remain well ico, Oregon, Rhode Island,
fusion in the briefing and in in the mail," he said, and 90 days to respond. Bastian below their prior levels, Vermont and Virginia — all
the press about what the states can help by mailing rejected that notion, saying meaning millions of pieces led by Democratic attor-
Postal Service has done," registration form or absen- there was no time for that of mail that would other- neys general.
Borson said. "The states tee ballots early. with the election just seven wise arrive on-time no lon- Pennsylvania is leading a
are accusing us of making Borson also insisted that the weeks away. ger are. separate multistate law-
changes we have not in states also were required The states conceded that They also noted some of suit over the changes,
fact made." to bring their challenge mail delays have eased the effects the changes and New York and Mon-
Voters who are worried not in court, but before the since the service cuts first had already wrought: tana have filed their own
about their ballots be- Postal Regulatory Commis- created a national uproar Michigan spent $2 million challenges.q
Gay marriages rise 5 years after Supreme Court ruling

that same-sex couples re- holds, 84.6% compared to child under age 18, com-
ally weren't all that inter- 80.4%. pared to 37.8% of opposite-
ested in marriage. But the However, there was a dif- sex couples. Of the nearly
large increase in marriages ference between gay and 300,000 children living in a
among same-sex couples lesbian couples. Married homes with same-sex cou-
since marriage equality be- women in same-sex house- ples, 66% were children of
came legal nationwide of- holds were much more like- both partners or spouses,
fers evidence of the clear ly to be working than mar- compared to 95% for oppo-
desire for marriage among ried women in opposite-sex site-sex couples, according
same-sex couples," said households, but the reverse to the Census Bureau's Cur-
Gary Gates, a demogra- was true for married men in rent Population Survey.
pher specializing in LGBT is- same-sex households. They The District of Columbia had
sues. were less likely to be work- the greatest concentration
The survey revealed notice- ing than married men in of same-sex households,
In this April 28, 2015 file photo, demonstrators stand in front of a able economic differences opposite-sex households, at 2.4% of households, fol-
rainbow flag of the Supreme Court in Washington. between male couples according to the Census lowed by Delaware (1.3%),
Associated Press and female couples, as Bureau. Oregon (1.2%), Massachu-
well as same-sex couples "While most research shows setts (1.2%) and Washing-
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Five rising to 568,110 couples and opposite-sex couples. that gay and bisexual men, ton State (1.1%), according
years after the U.S. Supreme in 2019, according to the Same-sex married couples on average, do not earn to the American Commu-
Court legalized same-sex Census Bureau's American had a higher median in- more than their compa- nity Survey.
marriages around the U.S., Community Survey. come than opposite-sex rable heterosexual male In the survey, the average
more than a half million Of the 980,000 same-sex married couples, $107,210 counterparts, that research age of a respondent in a
households are made up couple households report- compared to $96,932. also shows that they tend same-sex marriage was 48,
of married same-sex cou- ed in 2019, 58% were mar- In same-sex marriages, to earn more than lesbi- and the average age of
ples, according to figures ried couples and 42% were though, male couples an and bisexual women," the spouse was 47. Of those
the U.S. Census Bureau re- unmarried partners, the sur- earned more than female Gates said. "Unfortunately, who responded to the sur-
leased Thursday. vey showed. couples, $123,646 versus gender discrimination is vey as being in a same-sex
Since 2014, the year before There were slightly more $87,690. present, regardless of sexu- married household, 82%
the U.S. Supreme Court le- female couple households According to the survey, al orientation." identified as white, almost
galized same sex marriag- than male couple house- same-sex married house- Separate survey results also 7% identified themselves as
es, the number of married holds. holds were more likely to be released Thursday show Black and almost 4% were
same-sex households has "Opponents of marriage in the workforce than op- almost 15% of same-sex Asian. More than 13% were
increased by almost 70%, equality frequently argued posite-sex married house- couples had at least one Hispanic.q