Mail-In Voting Rules, Mass Visa Revocations & Manhole Mystery - Tuesday, August 25, 2026

**Erica Mandy** (0:00)
Today is Tuesday, August 25th. We'll tell you about a new US. Supreme Court decision that could change how mail-in ballots are handled just ahead of the midterms. Also how the trade war with Canada is escalating again, and the Trump Administration's plan to take away the visas of as many as 200,000 people.
Plus why police are investigating another bizarre manhole video in New York City. How to visit a national park for free today, and the tennis legends returning to the court today for some high-profile matches. Those stories and even more news to know, coming up.
Welcome to The NewsWorthy, all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy, thanks so much for being here. Let's do this.
The US. Supreme Court is clearing the way for new restrictions on mail-in voting, less than two weeks before some states are supposed to start sending out ballots. The court ruled six to three in favor of one of President Trump's executive orders. Specifically, the one that calls on his administration to create lists of eligible voters, and tells the USPS to deliver mail ballots only to people on their lists. The USPS already laid out how exactly it would implement the order last week, saying it would be up to states to provide the lists of voters who received ballots, so postal workers know whose they'd be able to deliver. It would also require changes to ballot envelopes, including new federal markings and barcodes. Now, to be clear, the high court justices did not rule on whether Trump's order itself is constitutional. The court's conservative majority just said the states who sued over it did not have a legal right to challenge the order, whereas the liberal justices warned the majority opinion needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming elections. So this leaves room for more court challenges, and other similar cases have already been filed from those who think Congress should have the ultimate say. Now, it's really not clear what this means for the midterms since election preparations are already underway. North Carolina, for example, has to start sending ballots to military and overseas voters by September 4th. Other states are set to follow soon after. So to be continued.
Two special elections today are putting a very personal spin on the fight for congressional seats because in both cases, a relative of the lawmaker who died is trying to win their old seat. In South Carolina, it's the sister of longtime US Senator Lindsey Graham, Darlene Graham, who is facing Republican Congressman Ralph Norman in a GOP runoff. President Trump has been throwing his support behind Darlene Graham who was appointed to temporarily fill the late senator seat already. The winner will become the Republican nominee and face Democrat Annie Andrews in November for a full Senate term starting next year. Meanwhile, in Georgia, longtime congressman David Scott's daughter, Marcy, is in a Democratic runoff to replace her father in the House after she came up short of a majority in the first round. She's facing a former county school board chair, Everton Blair. The winner in that race will serve out the remaining few months of Scott's term. But neither candidate is running in the midterms to take a full term in this seat, which begins in January. By the way, Oklahoma Republicans are also going back to the polls today to settle a nomination fight for governor. And Oklahoma Democrats are picking a nominee for US Senate. Stay tuned.
The trade war between the US and Canada is getting even more intense. President Trump has now said he'll raise tariffs on all Canadian cars and trucks, as well as auto parts, from 25 percent to 50 percent on January 1st. Trump also told Canadian leaders to, quote, fall in line or face consequences far worse.
Remember, this comes after trade talks collapsed over the weekend, with each side accusing the other of making unreasonable last-minute demands. Now, talks are suspended with no date to resume. Today, Canada is said to announce more retaliatory tariffs against the US. Prime Minister Mark Carney says he's focused on supporting Canadian businesses, as well as building infrastructure to diversify Canada's trade, that historically has heavily relied on the US. Both American and Canadian businesses have already warned they stand to be impacted by the trade war in some way, and those costs could be passed on to their customers.
The US is preparing to take away the visas of as many as 200,000 people in what would be the biggest such move in US history. The Trump Administration announced the plans yesterday. This will impact foreigners who came to the US on business or tourism visas, but later applied for asylum. The Administration says it's part of a broader effort to crack down on what it considers improper or frivolous asylum claims. To be clear, losing the visa doesn't necessarily mean these people will immediately be deported. Their asylum cases could continue, but they would no longer have that business or tourism visa status to fall back on. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is also going after another category of visas, the ones used by highly skilled foreign workers. They're common in industries like technology, healthcare, finance and research. And now the Administration is proposing a new fee of more than $100,000 for most new H-1B visa applications. It's a massive jump from the roughly $2,000 to $5,000 they cost now.