American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 26, 2026 In SOTU Speech, Trump Pushes ‘SAVE America Act’, Voter ID, Proof of Citizenship and Ending Mail-In Ballots; Repeats Debunked Noncitizen Voting Claims In his State of the Union address to Congress, President Donald Trump pushed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, now before the U.S. Senate and unlikely to pass.  But...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 25, 2026 Fairer Utah Congressional Map Likely Here to Stay, as Federal Court Panel Rejects GOP Appeal We’re back in Utah today, where on February 23rd a federal district court panel rejected a GOP appeal to court-chosen fair congressional districts.  Another GOP appeal failed in the Utah Supreme Court just last week. Some podca...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 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 Court Judge J. Michael Luttig cited several of America’s founders, who anticipated dem...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 23, 2026 Utah Supreme Court Rejects GOP Appeal; Fairer Map Stands. In VA, Same Judge, Different Objection to Ballot Measure to Authorize Redistricting The Utah Supreme Court dismissed a GOP appeal of a lower-court’s congressional district map, and a Virginia county judge who ruled against a redistricting ballot measure but over...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 20, 2026 Does Alabama’s U.S. Senator and Gubernatorial Candidate Tommy Tuberville Actually Live in Alabama?  It’s Not a Ridiculous Question. Does Alabama’s senior U.S. Senator and candidate for governor Tommy Tuberville actually live in Alabama?  The question is not as far-fetched as it seems. One of Tuberville’s Republican riv...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 19, 2026 With U.S. Supreme Court Support for the Voting Rights Act Disappearing, the Maryland Assembly Considers the Maryland Voting Rights Act of 2026 The conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has steadily gutted Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters in recent decades.  With few protections left, and a pe...

American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 18, 2026 Democrats in Virginia & Maryland Race to Match GOP-Gerrymandered Congressional Seats, But It’s Far From a Done Deal. An effort in Virginia and Maryland to match GOP-gerrymandered congressional seats in Texas and other states continues.  A state supreme court decision in Virginia will allow a ballot measure to go to the...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 17, 2026 Another Big Week in the Utah Legislature’s Attempt to Overturn Proposition 4 and Court-Ordered Fair Congressional District Maps It’s a big week in the ongoing attempt by the Utah legislature to do an end run around the voter-approved  Proposition 4 fair redistricting amendment.  Signatures required for putting a repeal...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 16, 2026 Can President Trump Mandate Voter ID for the Midterms?  He May Try, But the U.S. Constitution Says He Doesn’t Have the Authority. In a social media post February 13th, President Donald Trump threatened an executive order mandating voter ID for the 2026 midterm elections, “whether approved by Congress or not!”  He may t...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 13, 2026 An Amped Up SAVE Act, the SAVE America Act, Passes the U.S. House and Heads to the Senate. Its Restrictions Could Disenfranchise Millions. Last year’s version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE Act, died in the U.S. Senate.  This year’s versions, the SAVE America Act and the Make Elections Great Again...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 12, 2026 Affidavit Used to Obtain the Search Warrant for Fulton County FBI Raid Originated with Trump 2020 Campaign Lawyer Feb. 11th, a federal court unsealed the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant to seize Fulton County, Georgia’s 2020 ballots and election documents.  The affidavit notes that “the FBI criminal investi...

American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 11, 2026 Proof of Citizenship: Trial Begins on Strict NH Law; FL Bill Advances; VA Bill Ends Searches for Registered Noncitizens 90 Days Before the Election We have important state updates on proof of citizenship legislation in New Hampshire and Florida, and a bill in Virginia to keep eligible voters from being disenfranchised duri...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 10, 2026 With Election Disinformation Again on the Rise, Bipartisan Policy Groups Remind Americans that Elections are Secure, Accurate and Transparent Disinformation claiming rigged elections and widespread illegal voting is on the rise.  A new explainer from three prominent bipartisan policy groups shows how our state procedur...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 9, 2026 Fulton County, Georgia Sues to Get Their Ballots Back, See the DOJ Affidavit Used to Convince the Judge to Issue a Search Warrant Fulton County, GA has filed a complaint against the Trump Department of Justice for having seized as many as 700 boxes of securely stored ballots and election records during an FBI raid on Ja...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 6, 2026 Without Comment, the U.S. Supreme Court Allows California Prop 50 Maps. What’s the Next Battle in the Gerrymandering Wars? Without comment February 4th,  the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal from the California GOP to block the state’s Proposition 50 congressional redistricting as racially gerrymandered. ...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 5, 2026 Updates on Two Pending U.S. Supreme Court Democracy Cases:  California’s Prop 50 Redistricting, and Mississippi’s Mail Ballot Deadline We have updates on two important U.S. Supreme Court cases we’ve been following.  Submitted briefs are complete in the GOP emergency challenge to California’s midterm congressional redist...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 4, 2026 In Stunning Statement, a U.S. President Suggests ‘Republicans Ought to Nationalize the Voting.’ In a stunning phone interview February 2nd, President Donald Trump suggested Republicans should take over the voting in 15 states, though it’s not clear to which states the president was referring.  The statement follows seiz...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 3, 2026 Court Opinion Blocking More of Trump’s Executive Order on Elections Also Demands the Administration Follow Federal Citizen Data Privacy Statutes A section in President Trump’s March 2025 executive order on elections authorized what became a battle between states and the Department of Justice over access to voter data an...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Feb. 2, 2026 It's Goundhog Day All Over Again:  Trump Executive Order on Elections Loses Again on Constitutional Grounds A federal court blocked more of President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order on elections January 30th.  It may seem like Groundhog Day, because it’s the President’s sixth defeat on the elections order, inv...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 30, 2026 FBI Raids Fulton County, GA Election Office, Seizing Ballots and Documents in Apparent Pursuit of 2020 Presidential Election Fraud The FBI raided the Fulton County, GA election offices January 28th under a Trump DOJ initiated, and federal court authorized, warrant. In a highly-irregular action, voter rolls, sealed 2020...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 29, 2026 Virginia Court Decisions Block Democrat Mid-Decade Redistricting Amendment, and Restore Rights to Some Citizens Convicted of Felonies We have two stories from Virginia today.  An effort by Democrats to gerrymander more Congressional seats was blocked by a county court January 27th, and a federal judge found the commonw...

American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 28, 2026 Polls Show Most Utah Voters Want to Protect Their Fair Redistricting Amendment, But Another GOP-Backed Ballot Initiative Aims to Repeal It As you’ll recall, the Utah state courts struck down multiple GOP efforts to neutralize a constitutional amendment creating an independent redistricting commission and a ban on gerrymand...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 27, 2026 In Letter to MN Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. AG Pam Bondi Appears to Tie ‘Law & Order’ to State Turning Over Voter Data and Meeting Other Conditions A January 24th letter from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appears to link a return to “law and order” to meeting three conditions, including tur...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 26, 2026 Trump DOJ Joins California GOP in Attempt to Block Proposition 50 Congressional Maps in the U.S. Supreme Court As expected, the California GOP filed an emergency U.S. Supreme Court appeal of the Proposition 50 congressional districts, claiming racial gerrymandering.  Also unsurprisingly, the Trump Department of Justice...

American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 23, 2026 Think Your Mail-in Ballot Gets Automatically Postmarked on the Day You Drop it Off?  Think Again.  Most Americans assume that postal mail is postmarked the day it is received.  But in August 2025, the U.S. Postal Service clarified its rules for “Postmarks and Postal Possession.”  While the post office says it hasn’t change...