American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 25, 2026 Maine Senator Susan Collins Embroiled in ‘Pay-to-Play’ Allegations, After ProPublica Investigation Exposes a Shelved DOJ Investigation Nonprofit investigative news outlet ProPublica is reporting a previously unknown 2024 FBI investigation involving a super PAC associated with U.S. Senator Susan Collins, and possibly C...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 24, 2026 Third SCOTUS Appeal Now Submitted in Missouri Congressional Map; Secretary of State Faces Three Lawsuits Over His Conduct As anticipated, an appeal of an 8th Circuit ruling reviving Missouri’s gerrymandered 2025 congressional maps has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Back in Missouri, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins f...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 23, 2026 The Fight Over Missouri’s Congressional Maps is Not Over as 8th Circuit Allows Gerrymandered 2025 Map, Tees Up 3nd U.S. Supreme Court Ruling The fight over what Missouri congressional map will be used for the November election is apparently not over.  The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals made a decision opposite from t...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 22, 2026 In Quest to Find Noncitizen Voters, DOJ Allegedly Violated State Privacy Laws Thousands of Times Using State Voter Portals, Says Whistleblower In its Holy Grail quest to find noncitizen voters, the U.S. Department of Justice allegedly violated state privacy laws by looking up voter information on state voter registrat...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 21, 2026 With USPS Blocked from Mail-In Voter Verification, Pro-Democracy Groups Go to Court to Keep Armed Federal Agents Out of Polling Places After the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the U.S. Postal Service from conducting mail-in ballot citizenship verification, pro-voter groups have shifted their attention to keeping federal a...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 18, 2026 Texas Updates: State Supreme Court Blocks Galveston County Voting Map; 1.2 M Voter Registrations ‘Suspended’; 7 Noncitizen Voters Charged We have three updates from Texas today.  The state supreme court blocked a Galveston County voting district map, created after the primary; 1.2 million unresponsive Texas voters had...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 17, 2026 After a Bipartisan SCOTUS Majority Blocked the USPS Mail-In Voting Rules, What Do the Concurrence and Dissent Tell Us About What’s Next? The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily block U.S. Postal Service rules governing mail-in voting for the midterms cited the government’s weak case, and the lack of time to i...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 16, 2026 U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Block on Trump’s USPS Mail-In Ballot Rules for the Midterms, But Three Justices Leave Door Open for Future Litigation The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 September 14th to uphold a lower court, and stop implementation of restrictive new U.S. Postal Service mail-in ballot rules. But three jus...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 15, 2026 National Voter Registration Day is September 15.  New State Citizenship and Other Rules May Mean Your Registration Has Changed. National Voter Registration Day is September 15.  New state rules governing proof of citizenship, narrower voter ID options, and “use-it-or-lose it” voter registration purges might mean your...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 14, 2026 Disguised as a Voter Registration Site, an Elon Musk - America PAC Site Seems Designed to Vacuum Up Voter Data Instead Using social media, Elon Musk and his America PAC are promoting “VoteSafe.org” as a voter registration information site similar to nonpartisan site Vote.gov.  But its actual purpose may be to vacuum u...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 11, 2026 With Time Running Short, All Eyes on SCOTUS Rulings for Trump USPS Mail-In Ballot Cases; MO Blocked - Again - From Using 2025 Congressional Map With more states poised to distribute mail-in ballots, all eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on President Trump’s USPS order for mail-in voting eligibility. September...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 10, 2026 U.S. Supreme Court Denies MO Secretary of State’s Appeal on Redistricting Ballot Measure, But a New Federal District Court Ruling Conflicts U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh September 8th refused the Missouri Secretary of State’s appeal of a state supreme court ruling. It allows a redistricting ballot measure...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 9, 2026 Brian is out "doing democracy" today.  This is a rebroadcast of February 24, 2026. ‘These are The Times that Try Men’s Souls’ About Which the Founders’ Warned, Former Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig Says in Speech  In a February 17th speech before the New York City Bar Association, retired 4th Circuit Appeals Cou...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 8, 2026 Missouri Supreme Court Rules Pro-Voter Redistricting Ballot Measure Must Be Added to the Ballot;  Secretary of State Appeals to U.S. Supreme Court In a unanimous vote, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled September 3rd that a ballot measure rolling back a gerrymandered 2025 congressional district map must be placed on the...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 7, 2026 Court Battles Rage Over Trump USPS Mail-In Ballot Order As First Midterm Absentee Ballots are Sent Out in North Carolina Lawyers labored over Labor Day weekend to submit responses to the U.S. Supreme Court, after a Federal district judge blocked two more parts of President Donald Trump’s USPS mail-in voting order.  Bri...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 4, 2026 Tarrant County, TX Commissioners Close 92 Polling Places; Convicted CO County Clerk Tina Peters Withdraws from Shasta County, CA Job Offer Just eight weeks from the midterm election, Tarrant County, Texas commissioners voted to close one third of the growing county’s polling places.   And in California, after Shasta Co...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 3, 2026 USPS Whistleblower Claims Portal to Verify Citizenship of Mail-In Voters Risks ‘Catastrophic Failure’ and Could ‘Derail the Midterms’ A U.S. Postal Service whistleblower is warning that the new portal to be used to verify citizenship for mail-in voters, risks “catastrophic failure” and could “derail the midterms.”  The...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 2, 2026 Tarrant County, TX Proposes Eliminating 93 Polling Places Just Before the 2026 Election for Financial Reasons.  Voters Aren’t Buying It. The Tarrant County, Texas Commissioners meet September 1st to vote on reducing polling places for the Nov. 3rd election by 93 locations.  In the last two years, the county serving Dal...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 1, 2026 Trump USPS Mail-In Ballot Order Now Faces 2nd Appeal, Now That ‘State Citizenship List Rules’ are Finalized.  The Clock is Ticking. The U.S. Supreme Court lifted an injunction August 24th, blocking the U.S. Postal Service from checking citizenship of mail-in voters, because the rules had not yet been finalized, and sta...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Aug. 31, 2026 On the 63rd Anniversary of the March on Washington, ‘Defend the Vote’ Decries Erosion of Voting Rights and Gutting of the Voting Rights Act On the 63rd anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, civil rights and pro-democracy leaders spoke to supporters gathered for ‘Defend the Vote” at the Lincoln Memorial.  Speaker...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Aug. 28, 2026 WI District Attorney Punts on Musk Charges; CA Justices Not Buying Sheriff’s Ballot Seizure Defense; Callais Decision Threatens GA Districts We have updates on stories we’ve been following on Elon Musk “election bribery” accusations in Wisconsin, a state supreme court ballot seizure hearing for a California county sher...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Aug. 27, 2026 The SCOTUS USPS Mail-In Ballot Ruling May Not Be the Final Word.  USPS Has Now Released Its Rules and Challenges Have Already Been Filed The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision August 24th allowing President Donald Trump’s plan for the U.S. Postal Service to verify the citizenship of mail-in voters to proceed may not be the...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Aug. 26, 2026 In 6–3 Decision, Supreme Court Majority Stops Lower Court’s Ruling Blocking U.S. Postal Service Plans for Mail-In Voter Citizenship Verification    June 25th, a Massachusetts federal district court blocked portions of President Trump’s executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to verify a voter’s citizenship be...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Aug. 25, 2026 Elon Musk and America PAC Face Prosecution for ‘Election Bribery’ for Million Dollar Check Giveaway During 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Race In a 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race, Elon Musk gave $1 million dollar checks to three voters, quote, “In appreciation for you taking the time to vote.” The Wisconsin Elections...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Aug. 24, 2026 Does the Missouri Constitution Allow Ballot Initiatives to Change Voting Districts? Updates on Epic Battle Over Racially Gerrymandered KC Map We’re back in Missouri, where a Cole county circuit judge ruled August 19th that a proposed November citizen ballot initiative, stonewalled by the secretary of state, could not c...