American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 22, 2026 DOJ Filing Suggests a DOGE Employee May Have Created External Social Security Data Files and Had Contact with Election Denier Group New lawsuit filings allege a member of Elon Musk’s DOGE team may have created an external file containing personal Social Security information.  That month, that employee and another were...

American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 21, 2026 Redistricting Updates:  CA GOP Appeals Prop 50 Maps to SCOTUS, VA Dems Push Constitutional Amendment, NH’s Bill Doomed, MD Stalemated We have mid-decade congressional redistricting updates today from California, Virginia, New Hampshire and Maryland.  The GOP appealed California’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Some podcas...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for January 20, 2026 Federal Circuit Courts Block Trump DOJ from Obtaining California and Oregon Voter Data We have an update on the Trump Department of Justice efforts to force states to turn over voter and personal information for inclusion in its SAVE database.  Federal district judges in California and Oregon blocked DOJ’s actions,...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 19, 2026 With SCOTUS Appearing Ready to Strike Down More of the Voting Rights Act in 2026, MLK’s 1957 ‘Give Us the Ballot’ Speech is Still Relevant  Years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke on the Brown vs. Board of Education decision during the Prayer Pilgr...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 16, 2026 Federal Panel Allows California’s Gerrymandered Counterpunch to Five More GOP Congressional Seats in Texas. Will a Politicized SCOTUS Block It? January 14th, a 9th Circuit federal court panel rejected a GOP claim that California’s new congressional districts were racially gerrymandered.  The court said the Proposition...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 15, 2026 New Hampshire Legislators Make Yet Another Attempt at Keeping Students from Voting, Further Tightening Voter ID Regulations New Hampshire legislators are making another attempt to end the use of student IDs as voter identification, claiming such IDs were prone to fraud and advancing a bill to further narrow acceptable...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 14, 2026 Voters Identifying as ‘Independent’ Reaches Record High Led by Younger Americans, Says New Gallup Poll The number of Americans identifying as independents reached a new high, at the expense of both major parties.   An updated Gallup tracking poll found 45% of respondents called themselves political independents, led by...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 13, 2026 Trump’s Executive Order on Elections Handed Another Defeat, as Federal Court Upholds a State’s Right to Set Ballot Deadlines, Choose Methods President Donald Trump’s executive order on elections took yet another hit January 9th, as a federal judge blocked portions of the order trying to dictate election and ballot dead...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 12, 2026 Missouri Secretary of State Tactics Attempt to Derail Citizen Repeal of Gerrymandered Congressional Map January 6th, the Missouri Secretary of State disqualified one third of the qualifying signatures for a ballot initiative repealing a gerrymandered mid-decade congressional map. January 9th, his lawyer admitted in cou...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 9th, 2026 FL Governor Ron DeSantis Calls April Special Session to Gerrymander More GOP Congressional Districts, Escalating Redistricting Fight Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called an April special session of the legislature with the intent of redrawing the state’s congressional districts, further escalating the gerrymandering w...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 8th, 2026 Motor-Voter Laws Have Helped Register Millions to Vote, But Accidentally Signed Up a Relative Small Number of Noncitizens.  It’s Still a Big Success. As a solution to declining voter registration rates, 24 states and the District of Columbia implemented automatic voter registration, also known as AVR or “motor-voter.”...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 7, 2026 The Transcript of Former Jan. 6th Prosecutor Jack Smith’s Deposition to the House Judiciary Committee is Released.  It’s an Interesting Read. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee released the transcript of former Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s December 17th deposition defending his January 6th insurrection and Mar-a-Lago...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 6, 2026 While Texas Trumpets Finding Noncitizens on Its Voter Registration Rolls, the Reality is Less Clear, and Some May Even Be the State’s Fault Comparing its registered voter list to the federal SAVE database, the State of Texas announced in October it found over 2,700 purported noncitizens on its voter rolls.  An oversight...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 5, 2026 Ohio Election Oversight Becomes More Partisan on Jan. 1; Utah Judge Allows Legislature to Appeal Replacement Fair Congressional Map We have state updates today, both with significant implications for voters.  Ohio replaced its independent election commission with an “election integrity” commission under the control of t...

 American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 2, 2026 Brian is gone today, but we've posted a still-timely report from September 2025.  Happy New Year! American Bar Association Report Recommends Major Democracy Reforms to Boost Confidence in Elections & Reduce Partisan Polarization The American Bar Association has issued a final report and recommendations from its ABA Tas...

American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 1, 2026 American Democracy in 2025:  Expansion of Presidential Powers has Already Eroded the Independence of Federal Agencies. It May Get Worse.  We’ve been reviewing our most important stories of 2025, and their implications for 2026.  Expanded presidential powers, enabled by recent Supreme Court decisions, have eroded independent...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 31, 2025 American Democracy in 2025:  To Prove Racial Gerrymandering, Minority Voters Must Now Show SCOTUS ‘Intent’ to Discriminate, Not Just ‘Effect’ By any rational measure, the Texas legislature racially gerrymandered its congressional map in 2025 to add five more GOP seats at the request of President Donald Trump.  But the...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 30, 2025 American Democracy in 2025:   The SCOTUS Case Which May End 60 Years of Protection for Minority Voters We’re looking back at our most important stories of 2025, and what changes to expect for American democracy in 2026.  If you’re a voter, it’s been a tough year.   If you’re a minority voter, it’s been a really BAD yea...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 29, 2025 Ohio Joins Kansas in Eliminating Grace Periods for Mail-In Ballots; A 2026 Mississippi SCOTUS Case Could Eliminate Them Nationwide Ohio has joined Kansas in eliminating a grace period for mail-in ballots arriving after election day.  A U.S. Supreme Court case from Mississippi could potentially eliminate mail ballot gra...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 25, 2025 The U.S. Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision will likely be released early next year, and its rehearing in October was one of the big voting rights stories of the year.   Brian is off for a couple of days, so we're rebroadcasting this story from October.   Happy holidays! Outlook for the Voting Rights Act Dim...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 23, 2025 Restrictive Voting Laws Passed in 20 States in 2025. Proof of Citizenship, Limits on Mail-In Voting and Narrower Voter ID Rules Dominated. Proof of citizenship, limits on voting by mail and narrowed voter ID options dominated the 37 restrictive state election laws passed in 2025, according to democracy legislation trac...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 23, 2025 Can the Feds Require States to Turn Over Voter Data?  A New Paper Suggests Federal Law Doesn’t Explicitly Allow It, So Courts Will Decide. The Trump Department of Justice has tried for months to compel states to turn over voter registration data.  A new university research center analysis suggests existing federal law...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 22, 2025 Federal Judges Skeptical of GOP Claims of Racial Gerrymandering in California; Judge Orders New Judicial Districts in Mississippi A decision from a skeptical three-judge panel is expected December 22nd on Republican claims that California’s Proposition 50 racially gerrymandered Congressional districts.  In Mississippi,...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 19, 2025 Joining the Mid-Decade Gerrymandering Arms Race, Two NH GOP Legislators Propose Bill to Redraw the State’s Congressional Maps in 2026 In 2022, New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu vetoed radically gerrymandered congressional districts, saying the map QUOTE, “Didn’t pass the smell test.”  Current GOP Governor...

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 18, 2025 U.S. DOJ Sues MA, CO, HI and NV to Turn Over Voter Registration Files, but Even Red States are Pushing Back The U.S. Justice Department filed suits December 12th to compel Massachusetts, Colorado, Hawaii and Nevada to turn over voter registration records, including citizenship records and personal data.  Delaware, Mary...