With 61 days to Election Day 2020, here's the news that you'll want to know:

(1) local Colorado police investigating report a 12-year-old boy was assaulted because he had a Trump sign

(2) almost 3,000 Georgia voters say they never received absentee ballots they requested; local news gets a photo of ballots inside the post office

(3) Facebook announces a new policy and warns about candidates claiming "premature victories"

(4) new lawsuit to get Kanye West off the ballot in Virginia includes experienced Democratic lawyer

Boulder, Colorado police investigating report that a woman assaulted a 12-year-old boy because he had a Trump sign.

"A woman assaulted a 12-year-old boy on Monday Boulder, Colo. over a Trump yard sign he was carrying, according to police. Boulder police are investigating a report of the assault, which occurred at 3 p.m. in north Boulder. Police have not made any arrests or citations so far." (National Review)

• What's happening: In this sad story from Colorado, a 12-year-old boy reported to police that a woman confronted and then assaulted him because he had a Trump sign while out riding his bike.

The woman "allegedly hit the boy with a closed fist on his arms and the back of his head four or five times and scratched him," as National Review reported.

The boy told local news: "I was just shocked about why she did that. She probably didn’t know that I was a 12-year-old. But either way, whatever age I am, they shouldn’t be doing that."

• What's at stake: This alleged behavior is unacceptable, period, and particularly heartbreaking given that the target was reportedly a child. If there are updates from Boulder police, we'll share them in The Vote.

(1) Unfortunately, this now seems to be a frightening pattern of behavior from people who dislike President Trump and his supporters. Already this year:

-- a 15-year-old Trump supporter in New Hampshire was attacked at a Trump campaign tent

-- an 82-year-old veteran holding a Trump sign "was pushed to the ground and kicked in the ribs and legs by a man who first ripped the sign from his hands and tore it in half"

-- a man allegedly drove through a Republican Party tent where a voter registration drive was occurring

And it's not just happening to Trump supporters either.

The Democratic mayor of Portland announced he'd move from his condo and the Democratic mayor of St. Louis is reportedly moving from her residence temporarily, too, due to ongoing, frightening protests at their homes. That's an awful indicator of the current state of American culture.

(2) And Democratic leaders aren't helping.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Trump and congressional Republicans "domestic enemies" and "enemies of the state." Perhaps unsurprisingly, she has not apologized or retracted her comments.

Almost 3,000 voters in Georgia say they never received absentee ballots they requested.

"Nearly 3,000 voters in Georgia have filed complaints with voting officials, claiming they never received absentee ballots for the state’s Aug. 11 primary runoffs, according to a report. A photo obtained by Atlanta’s FOX 5 showed some of the ballots still inside a post office Aug. 12 – the day after the runoffs – meaning the undelivered ballots were no longer usable by voters if they eventually received them." (Fox News)

• What's happening: Almost 3,000 voters who requested absentee ballots for Georgia's primary race in August reported that they never received them.

Atlanta's FOX 5 news station's report found a photo that "showed some of the ballots still inside a post office" the day after the primary.

• What's at stake: We suspect there will be a new vote-by-mail story in every issue of The Vote from now until Election Day (and likely months after that!). Mail-in ballots will likely be the deciding factor in many states for the 2020 election.

Here's what we think this story from Georgia tells us about potential broader trends.

(1) First, and most important, Americans must be able to vote! It's concerning that nearly 3,000 eligible voters were reportedly kept from voting due to not receiving ballots they requested.

(2) This highlights a concern with voting by mail: postal service infrastructure.

CBS News conducted a vote by mail experiment in July that highlighted concerns with getting ballots to and from voters on time. You can watch a video of their full report here.

And CBS News didn't argue that the delays had any connection to President Trump.

Although the Democrats tried to politicize the U.S. Postal Service in a brief frenzy ahead of their own convention, all changes were reverted to policies in place at the beginning of the year.

(We'd point out those were policies from the Trump Administration, too, which suggests Democrats' problem is with the President and politics, not the USPS.)

Facebook announces a new campaign ad policy. Here's what most people are missing.

"The company said Thursday it will restrict new political ads in the week before the election and remove posts that convey misinformation about COVID-19 and voting. It also will attach links to official results to posts from candidates and campaigns declaring premature victories." (Newsmax)

• What's happening: Facebook announced that it won't allow new political ads to be placed in the week before Election Day, November 3. It also signaled a potentially more aggressive new police in moderating or flagging content it deems to be "misinformation."

• What's at stake: There are two parts to this story.

(1) Facebook users may welcome the news as a break from political ads. But the policy change will allow election-related ads placed before the final week to keep running.

(2) What we find more newsworthy is that Facebook has indicated it will intervene in what they call "premature victories." 

As a Democratic consultant warned Axios this week, the left is concerned President Trump could have a big lead on Election Day that erodes once all the mail-in ballots are processed and counted in days following the election.

• What else to know: Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have donated $300 million to two nonprofit groups that will assist with "voting infrastructure" in states, including poll worker pay and PPE.

New lawsuit in Virginia to get Kanye West off the ballot includes experienced Democratic legal team.

"As rapper Kanye West’s presidential campaign races to get him on the ballot in as many states as possible before their respective drop-dead dates, longtime Democratic lawyer Marc Elias is aiding in the fight to keep West off the ballot." (The Federalist)

• What's happening: A long-time Democratic lawyer is listed among the counsel representing two Virginia residents now suing to have Kanye West removed from the November ballot.

Despite stories that he would drop out, West's campaign has persisted, and he's now on the ballot in "at least eight states," according to The Federalist.

• What's at stake: As The Federalist reported, the involvement of an experienced Democratic lawyer on the counsel team "affirms the belief that Democrats are concerned that having West on the ballot, especially in swing states, could siphon black votes away from Democratic nominee Joe Biden, potentially helping the reelection campaign of Donald Trump."