1. Surely you must be joking

That was the reaction of the nation's governors to President Trump's coronavirus relief measures, which they say are too expensive for states to implement as they struggle with the costs of the pandemic. How expensive? California Gov. Gavin Newsom estimates it would cost his state $700 million per week. "The best way forward is for the Congress and the administration to get back to the negotiating table and come up with a workable solution, which should provide meaningful additional relief for American families," Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas said in a joint statement on behalf of the National Governors Association. —Reuters

• — You can't go home again. The Trump Administration is considering a measure to block American citizens and permanent residents from returning to the States if they are suspected of being infected with COVID-19. The regulation would give the government authorization to bar individuals who could "reasonably" be believed to have contracted the virus. —The Guardian
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• — Setback for New Zealand. After returning to essentially normal life, with 102 straight days free of new coronavirus infections, New Zealand is imposing measures to stop the spread of the virus. Auckland is locking down and the rest of New Zealand faces lesser restrictions for 72 hours after four members of the same family tested positive for COVID-19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. —Axios
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• — Russia's new Sputnik moment. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced today that Russia has become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine—after less than two months of human testing. The move is hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess. American officials have countered that safety and efficacy are paramount, and those require late-stage trials. —Reuters

2. Lutz: Postal Service hangs in the balance

"What exactly Congressional Democrats can do isn't clear. [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer and other leaders have made protections for USPS a major sticking point in the negotiations over the latest coronavirus relief bill. Democrats have called for [Postmaster General Louis] DeJoy's ouster. And some have called for lawmakers to consider court action to prevent the service from being kneecapped. But if Republicans don't stand up to Trump, it's possible his attacks on the Postal Service could stand, potentially propelling the U.S. into an existential crisis." —Vanity Fair

3. SCOTUS solicited in RI voting case

As states grapple with how best to handle an election in the midst of a pandemic, the Republican National Committee and Rhode Island Republicans have asked the Supreme Court for help. They requested yesterday that the high court block an order by a federal district court that relaxes the state's witness requirement for absentee ballots.

• — Under Rhode Island law, voters who submit absentee ballots must sign them in the presence of either two witnesses or a notary. Civic groups went to court in late July, successfully making the case that the witness requirement is unconstitutional because of COVID-19.
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• — The Republican groups argue that the relief they are requesting was compelled by the Supreme Court's earlier ruling on a similar case from Alabama, in which the justices granted the state's request for a stay.
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• — They've asked the justices to decide quickly, as ballots for the election are scheduled to go out on Aug. 13. A response is expected by the end of the day. —SCOTUSblog

4. Lamendola: The many benefits of RCV

"This November, Maine will be the first state to use ranked-choice voting to award its presidential electors. RCV is a tried and tested, nonpartisan electoral reform which would not only help elect consensus candidates, but would also increase the number of women and people of color who run, win, serve, and lead in our government." —The Fulcrum

Ed. Note: Courtney Lamendola is the research director at RepresentWomen, which advocates for political reforms it believes would result in more women holding elective office.

MORE: Burlington City Council to attempt override of ranked-choice veto —WCAX

5. Redistricting requires an accurate Census count

And so far, response rates to the 2020 Census are low. With just weeks until the Census Bureau faces a deadline to finish counting 330 million Americans, cities and states are scrambling to get through to communities at risk of being left out of the final tally. The stakes are high. Some states are so close to the cutoff point at which they would earn or lose a House seat from the Census-based apportionment, that just a few thousand missing people could mean a smaller congressional delegation. New York, Texas, and Florida—all of which lag behind the national response rate—are currently most at risk of falling short. Fill out that Census. —The Hill

• — Oklahoma. An organization called People Not Politicians, which seeks to end gerrymandering in Oklahoma, has filed an initiative petition to create a citizens redistricting commission. The group proposes that a nine-person panel, split evenly among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, should draw the district maps. "Oklahomans should be in charge of drawing those districts in a way that represents the people of Oklahoma," Executive Director Andy Moore said. —KFOR
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• — Texas. El Paso Co. is calling for an independent, citizen-led commission to supervise next year's electoral redistricting process in Texas. Voting rights advocates in the state have long complained that the process has led to the underrepresentation of minorities. Those concerns were heightened by a memo signed by President Trump last month that directs the Department of Commerce to exclude undocumented immigrants from the Census. —Border Report
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• — Wisconsin. Another state taking a second look at its gerrymandered districts is Wisconsin, where the Fair Maps Coalition is looking to create a nonpartisan redistricting group that would draw maps, instead of politicians. Critics say such a board would be unaccountable to taxpayers and voters. A non-binding redistricting referendum will be on the November ballot in eight counties. About 50 county boards have already passed resolutions urging the legislature to pass a fair maps law. —Lake Mills Leader

6. Trippe: Is Belarus on the precipice of change?

"The people of Belarus have put aside their fears to rise up against repression and the surveillance state. [President Alexander] Lukashenko's main challenger, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, and her supporters have thus achieved something that was unthinkable just a few weeks ago: They presented an alternative to the president's authoritarian model, and they did this from the grassroots, without any help of influence from abroad." —Deutsche Welle

MORE: Belarus opposition candidate Tsikhanouskaya flees to Lithuania —Voice of America

7. Trump vs Intelligence

President Trump defended his ongoing "reluctance to embrace" U.S. intelligence agencies today, while characteristically questioning the latest reports that Russia is meddling in the 2020 election. In a pair of tweets, he said it is "not true" that he trusts Russian President Vladimir Putin more than American intelligence officials—but then he offered an explanation for why perhaps he should.

• — Trump has faced criticism throughout his presidency for casting doubt on the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. He drew widespread bipartisan backlash for questioning those findings during a 2018 joint press conference with Putin in Helsinki.
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• — "[I]f the first people you met from so-called American Intelligence were Dirty Cops who have now proven to be sleazebags at the highest level like James Comey, proven liar James Clapper, & perhaps the lowest of them all, Wacko John Brennan who headed the CIA, you could perhaps understand my reluctance to embrace!" Trump tweeted.
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• — Brennan clapped back, "It's no surprise that @realDonaldTrump shares Putin's deep disdain for Americans who served their country & countered Russian efforts to undermine U.S. national security. Trump continues to do neither." —The Hill

8. Huang: Fighting disinfo? Look to Taiwan

"The United States has less than three months until one of its most consequential elections in our lifetime. It must secure its political and informational systems so that Americans alone—not the Chinese, Russian, or Iranian governments, or any other foreign entity—can decide the nation's fate. To do so, it can learn from Taiwan." —The Washington Post

Ed. Note: Aaron Huang is a master's graduate of Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a U.S. Foreign Service Officer.

MORE: US democracy and human rights leaders sanctioned by China vow not to be cowed into silence —The Washington Post

9. QAnon is all over Facebook

Facebook has become a haven for conspiracy theorists. An internal investigation by the social media company has uncovered thousands of groups and pages, with millions of members and followers, that support QAnon—a right-wing conspiracy theory formed around the idea that President Trump is leading a secret war against the "deep state," a group of political, business, and Hollywood elites who worship Satan and abuse and murder children.

• — QAnon and its parent conspiracy theory, "pizzagate," have been implicated in real-world violence, including armed standoffs, attempted kidnappings, harassment campaigns, a shooting, and at least two murders. The FBI designated QAnon as a potential domestic terrorist threat last year.
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• — Social media companies face a unique challenge in moderating QAnon communities. The platforms serve as "base infrastructure" for networking and spreading content, as well as a target of the groups, which consider the them to be "oppressive regimes that seek to destroy truth," according to Joan Donovan, director of the Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy at Harvard.
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• — While QAnon is a product of the internet, born on fringe forums and spread through social media, it has gone mainstream in recent months. More than 70 congressional candidates have endorsed some part of the QAnon ideology in 2020, according to Media Matters. —NBC News

10. An American Story: History in every stitch

Giselle Williams' hairstyling and knitting businesses came to a standstill during the coronavirus pandemic, so she decided to devote her time to making face masks for the community. In doing so, she found a new purpose for a 1922 sewing machine that belonged to her great-great-grandmother.

• — Giselle had never sewn anything before but learned quickly from her husband, Darin's, instruction. His grandmother was a seamstress and taught him to sew as a child. He showed his wife how to thread the machine, wind a bobbin, and sew a straight stitch.
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• — Before long, they were supplying friends, family, and frontline workers with masks. Their team efforts inspired other members of their community to get involved. Family, friends, and neighbors donated fabric to support the couple's mission.
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• — Giselle believes "it was meant to be" that she could use her great-great-grandmother's machine in this time of need. "It means a lot. There's a lot of meaning behind every mask that was made on that machine," she said. "It's been so rewarding, and we want to do more of it." —CNN (via Karunavirus)

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