News from around the nation.

Florida preps for big voter turnout, despite hurricane cleanup; Supreme Court rejects push to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from ballots in two swing states; Ensuring vote integrity in Ohio election; Pastor contends Hispanic evangelicals are not 'one-issue' voters.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast, October the 30th, 2024.

I'm Mike Clifford.

First to Florida, where they're expecting high voter turnout for next week's election.

And election officials are working urgently to make it happen, addressing the challenges created by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Election supervisors are making last-minute adjustments to ensure safe and accessible polling options after the storms damaged critical infrastructure across several counties.

It has added what Florida Gulf Coast University political science professor Sandra Pavelka calls tremendous challenges to election preparations, particularly in the hard-hit areas.

Florida and the Southeast have experienced two major hurricanes right before the election within two weeks of each other.

So it's not only affecting the voter administrators, but also the volunteers, the poll workers, and the voters themselves.

In response to the damage, the Florida Supervisors of Elections Association collaborated with Governor Ron DeSantis' office to implement emergency measures.

DeSantis signed an executive order allowing adjustments to polling places, drop boxes, and vote-by-mail procedures in 20 counties significantly affected by the storms.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

Meantime, the Supreme Court Tuesday rejected an emergency appeal to remove Robert F. Kennedy from a presidential ballot in two battleground states.

That from NBC News.

They report Kennedy wanted to get off the ballot in Wisconsin and Michigan after dropping his independent bid and endorsing Donald Trump.

NBC knows that Michigan and Wisconsin said removing his name, with early voting underway, would be impossible.

And as folks in Ohio prepare to cast their ballots, election officials are emphasizing the integrity of the voting process and addressing concerns about potential misinformation.

David Becker from the Center for Election Innovation and Research underscores how misinformation often surfaces post-election and is driven more by outcomes than any documented irregularities.

We will hear, depending upon who wins and who loses, that non-citizens are voting, even though Republican-led states like Ohio have just documented only six cases over the course of the last decade.

I looked it up.

It's literally more likely that you'd get hit by lightning in Ohio than find a non-citizen voting there.

State officials affirm strict security measures are in place, including voter ID checks and paper ballot backups.

However, some critics suggest reviewing voter roll accuracy to bolster public confidence given concerns about rare ballot errors.

Farah Siddiqui reporting.

With high demand for mail ballots, Ohio has extended the number of secure drop boxes and improved procedures at election offices to support voters.

Advocates stress the importance of planning ahead to avoid last-minute issues.

This is Public News Service.

About 10 million Hispanics identify as evangelical or Protestant.

One pastor contends there has been what he calls an awakening regarding the influence of political power of Hispanic evangelicals in battleground states such as Arizona.

Over 20 percent of the state's more than two million Latinos are evangelicals, according to Pew Research Center.

Reverend Gabriel Salguero is president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and argues despite that awakening, there is still a misunderstanding of how diverse the Hispanic evangelical community actually is.

Politicians don't know how to speak to us.

They say, "Oh, they're evangelical. They must be Republican," or, "Oh, they're Latino. They must be Democrat."

Well, we're Latino evangelicals.

And so, like me, I'm a registered independent.

Many of us are registered independents because we're not one-issue voters.

Salguero says politicians need to take that complexity seriously.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

Meantime, the Biden administration is investing $50 million from the Inflation Reduction Act in Colorado to produce more batteries that power electronic vehicles.

Will Tour with the Colorado Energy Office says the state is bullish on EVs, in part because gas-powered vehicle tailpipes are a major contributor to harmful ground-level ozone and climate pollution.

When you look at both our climate goals and just the pollution problems that we have in Denver and the Northern Front Range, switching to electric vehicles just has huge benefits for our air quality and for our climate.

The new IRA funding will allow Thornton-based manufacturer Solid Power to add at least 40 new jobs that pay production operators, chemists, and engineers nearly $78,000 a year on average.

Solid Power is also partnering with area high schools and community colleges on job training programs.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Finally, from our Nadia Ramleghan, new CDC data shows that three out of every four high school students nationwide say they've experienced at least one adverse childhood event, including witnessing domestic violence in the home, parental separation, or physical and sexual abuse.

Licensed psychologist and member of Kentucky's Bounce Coalition, Joe Barjone, says the national data support the trends among youth in the Commonwealth.

We're seeing some of the same kinds of patterns that increase sense of loneliness, isolation in our youth, increased levels of suicide ideation, exposure to violence, exposure to adverse childhood experiences.

Experiencing at least one ACE as a child is linked to having alcohol and substance use problems as an adult, as well as chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

Nadia Ramleghan reporting.

This is Bob Clifford for Public News Service.

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