1. Russia 'amplifies' claims of vote-by-mail fraud

Well, what do you know? Russia is doing its downright best to mess with the 2020 election, and once again, they're on the same side as you-know-who. An intelligence bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security, issued to federal and state law enforcement yesterday, finds with "high confidence" that "Russian malign influence actors" have targeted vote-by-mail "by spreading disinformation" since at least March. The Russian messaging tracks with that of President Trump, who has frequently sought to undermine the integrity of U.S. elections by promoting unsubstantiated allegations that mail-in voting will lead to widespread fraud. —ABC News

• — Georgia. Good news for Georgia voters, as a federal judge ruled that election officials must count mailed ballots that arrive as late as three days after the Nov. 3 presidential election. U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross agreed that the current deadline for accepting ballots, 7 p.m. on Election Day, would unfairly restrict voting amid an expected surge in mailed ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ballots must still be postmarked by Election Day. —Bloomberg
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• — Montana. The Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign have sued the state of Montana in federal court to cut back vote-by-mail statewide. Gov. Steve Bullock issued a directive last month allowing counties to expand vote-by-mail and early voting "at their local discretion," including mailing ballots to qualified voters. Montana already allowed voters to request and submit absentee ballots without explaining their reasoning. —CNN
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• — Oregon. In other voting news, backers of an initiative aimed at ending political gerrymandering in Oregon lost their final legal attempt to win a spot on the November ballot, as the result of a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The initiative would have established an independent commission to redraw congressional and legislative district lines based on population changes. —OPB

2. Brooks: Election 2020: The worst—and best—that can happen

"When people unite to demand democracy and the rule of law, even repressive regimes can be stopped in their tracks. Mass mobilization is no guarantee that our democracy will survive—but if things go as badly as our exercises suggest they might, a sustained, nonviolent protest movement may be America's best and final hope." —The Washington Post

Ed. Note: Rosa Brooks is a law professor at Georgetown University and the co-founder of the Transition Integrity Project.

MORE: Donald Trump is very likely to challenge the results of the US election —The Economist

3. Did Trump really say that?!?

Generally speaking, insulting the troops is political poison in the U.S., but Donald Trump has largely skirted consequences of his past remarks. However, new reporting by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic claims that, as president, Trump has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, and referred to those who've died in battle as "losers" and "suckers." The bombshell report is based on revelations from multiple high-level—but so far anonymous—sources.

• — In 2015, Trump infamously expressed contempt for the late Sen. John McCain, who spent more than five years as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese. "He's not a war hero," Trump said. "I like people who weren't captured." He also attacked the parents of Humayun Khan, an Army captain who was killed in Iraq in 2004, during his 2016 campaign.
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• — The president's contempt extends well beyond McCain and Khan, according to the Atlantic report. The sources say he genuinely doesn't understand why Americans treat former POWs with respect, or why pilots shot down in combat are honored by the military. "He can't fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself," an unidentified retired four-star general said. —The Atlantic
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• — Trump denies it all. He tweeted, "I never called John [McCain] a loser and swear on whatever, or whoever, I was asked to swear on, that I never called our great fallen soldiers anything other than HEROES." However, Trump has, in fact, described McCain as a "loser," and even tweeted out a quote of himself issuing the insult in 2015, along with an article recounting his comments. Guess he forgot...or something. —The Daily Beast

4. Biden visits Kenosha in attempt to quell violence

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden visited Wisconsin yesterday, where he warned that President Trump's behavior "legitimizes the dark side of human nature." Biden and his wife, Jill, met privately with the family of Jacob Blake, a Black man whose shooting by a white police officer renewed nationwide protests against systemic racism. Blake joined the conversation for nearly 15 minutes from the hospital. Biden also met with community leaders and two members of law enforcement at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha, where he said, "We're finally at a point we're going to address the original sin in this country—slavery, and all its vestiges." —The Guardian

• — Portland update. A federal task force fatally shot Michael Forest Reinoehl, suspected of being the gunman who killed Aaron "Jay" Danielson, a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, during a violent confrontation in Portland, Ore., on Saturday night. Reinoehl was killed as authorities attempted to apprehend him near Lacey, Wa., about 120 miles north of Portland. —Associated Press
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• — He's mad, and Facebook's not going to take it anymore. The social media giant removed two posts by Republican Rep. Clay Higgins on Tuesday in which he threatened demonstrators against police violence. The Louisiana congressman said he would "drop any 10 of you where you stand" if they took to the street armed. The post also included a picture of an armed Black militia group that has protested the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. —BuzzFeed News
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• — Marjorie is back at it too. And she's amped up the threats of violence. The QAnon-embracing Republican congressional candidate from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, posted on her candidate Facebook page yesterday an image of herself holding a gun alongside images of Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. "We need strong conservative Christians to go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart," the caption read. Hoo boy. —CNN

MORE: Troops: White nationalism a national security threat equal to ISIS, al-Qaida —Military Times

5. Mangu-Ward: Policing reform takes commitment and hard work, not fireworks

"It's hard to stay mad about one thing when there are so many new things to get mad about every day, especially in the cascading semi-apocalypse of 2020. But a certain kind of sustained anger is vital to real reform. Fireworks are attention-getting, and bonfires are fun, but it's the banked coals of a well-tended hearth that get the job done. As meaningful reforms keep working their way through the system, it's the pragmatists, not the firebrands, who will keep that flame alive." —Reason

MORE: A white mom marched alone to say 'Black lives matter.' Her Black son urged her to do more —Los Angeles Times

6. Facebook braces for Election Day

In an attempt to limit civil unrest and confusion, Facebook will suspend political advertising on its platform one week before Election Day. With an expected increase in mail-in voting, the platform will also flag and label any candidate's attempt to claim a premature victory.

• — As the intelligence community continues to warn of foreign interference, and as President Trump continues to sow doubt about the integrity of the election, Facebook is seeking to mitigate against any political disinformation shared on its platform.
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• — The Trump campaign did not take the news well. "In the last seven days of the most important election in our history, President Trump will be banned from defending himself on the largest platform in America. When millions of voters will be making their decisions, the president will be silenced by the Silicon Valley Mafia," said Samantha Zager, the campaign's deputy national press secretary.
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• — Facebook's new actions are seen as an attempt to do better, as its role in past elections has been heavily criticized. Some former Facebook executives believe that the platform directly affected the outcome of the 2016 election. —The Wall Street Journal

7. McKew: Barr sticks to the script

"On September 2, Attorney General Bill Barr—dogged Trump loyalist and deflector of norms—gave an interview to CNN. While there is a lot to be said about the overall substance of Barr's comments, the conduct of the interview was such that Barr had an open field to do what he does best: seed narrative that will overshadow facts and details that later emerge, and set the talking points for Trump surrogates and defenders on these issues. As he did with the Mueller report, Barr knows if you get out first, your version of events sticks—even if there are 400 pages showing your summary to be disingenuous." —Stand Up Republic

Ed. Note: Molly McKew served as an adviser to then-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili from 2009 to 2013. She is an expert in information warfare specializing in U.S.-Russia relations.

MORE: How disinformation has morphed for the 2020 election —Bloomberg

8. How our divides impact our democracy

A series of recent academic studies shows how American attitudes toward key pillars of liberal democracy have been shaped, and how they are changing. Driven by racial justice protests of the past three months, more Americans are recognizing that some citizens' lived experiences of political authority pose a sharp contrast to conventional understanding of democracy's formal structures, institutions, and rules. Specifically, a racial authoritarianism that was hiding in plain view has become apparent, forcing communities to demand action. —Science Magazine

• — Americans losing faith in democratic principles? Pew Research Center's annual study of U.S. democracy indicates there are sizable gaps between the shares of Americans who say key principles—including that the rights and freedoms of all people are respected, that elected officials face serious consequences for misconduct, and that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed—are very important and that the U.S. is doing well in living up to them. Overall, fewer Americans see certain principles—notably, the freedom to peacefully protest—as very important than did so two years ago.
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• — Trust in the media is down. A Pew study has found that many Americans remain skeptical toward the news media, questioning not only the quality of journalists' work but their intentions behind it. No more than half of U.S. adults have confidence in journalists to act in the best interests of the public. Overall, 63% of U.S. adults say some level of wariness toward the news media is healthy for a well-functioning society. —Pew Research Center
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• — Community connectedness counts. A National Bureau of Economic Research study finds that lower levels of social capital—and of trust—tend to give rise to populism. Such communities demonstrated higher levels of support for Donald Trump, both in the Republican primaries and general election in 2016. "We hypothesize that a fraying social fabric, captured by a decline in the density of membership in civic and religious organizations, is partly responsible for the rise of populism," the authors write. —UCLA Anderson Review

9. Snyder: Why I'm a Republican voting for Biden

"We will not continue to be the greatest nation in the world if we can't get along among ourselves. We have only become more divided over the past four years. We need a leader who believes in civility and bringing Americans closer together." —USA Today

Ed. Note: Rick Snyder was governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2018.

10. An American Story: One move, many dreams

Sometimes things just have a way of working out. That's the case of the African-American Museum of Bucks County, Pa., established in 2014, which has finally found a home. County commissioners voted to allow the museum to rent the empty Boone Farm for $1 per year until 2030. It's a perfect location for more than one reason.

• — Museum president Linda Salley was delighted by the choice. Unbeknownst to the commissioners, the farm employed many Black southerners during the Great Migration, allowing them to make a life for themselves and their families as they resettled in the northern states.
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• — Boone Farm was also meaningful to former U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, who had a longtime interest in rehabilitating the farm before his death from cancer in January. Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia said, "It is an honor to be able to see something Mike cared about be revived, relived, and rehabilitated in such an appropriate and remarkable way."
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• — The museum is in the process of getting designs to convert the farm's empty buildings into museum space and offices while maintaining the historical aspects. It plans to use the site to share the rich history of the Black experience locally and beyond for many years to come. —Levittown Now

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.