American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 27, 2024 Look for 2025 Conservative Challenges to a ‘Private Right of Action’ for Voting Rights Cases, Attempting to Dismantle the Voting Rights Act A 2023 decision in an Arkansas redistricting case found individual voters did not have a “private right of action” to challenge the maps. The State of Louisiana tried the same tactic in...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 26, 2024 Brian is taking off the holiday, but posted this rebroadcast.  Survey Finds Strong Support from Americans for Early Voting & Election Day Holiday Reforms, but Restrictive Government-Issued ID Requirements A new study by Pew Research finds Americans broadly support such democracy reforms as making election day a holiday...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 25, 2024 What’s Ahead for 2025:  Mississippi Case Challenging the Counting of Mail-In Ballots After Election Day Likely Headed to U.S. Supreme Court In coming reports, we’re anticipating 2025 democracy court cases and legislation.  In October, a federal appeals court struck down a Mississippi law allowing receipt and counting of mai...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 24, 2024 Citizen Ballot Initiatives Help Voters Bypass Against Extreme Legislatures.  But Expect More Attempts to Block Those Initiatives in 2025 As voters turn to ballot initiatives to bypass extreme legislatures, legislatures are manipulating initiative rules to protect their partisan power.  To view the whole script of today’s re...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 23, 2024 USPS Issues Upbeat Report on Ballot Delivery Performance for the 2024 General Election, But Lower Use of Mail-In Ballots was the Biggest Factor We reported in September on concerns from election officials on whether the U.S. Postal Service could meet its mail ballot delivery obligations. The USPS issued its report in early...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 20, 2024 NYC’s Embattled Mayor Denied $4.5 Million in Matching Funds from City’s Public Campaign Finance Funding System New York City Mayor Eric Adams was denied access to over $4 million dollars in matching public funding for his 2025 campaign, due to questions over an ongoing federal investigation and accusations of financial mism...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 19, 2024 Among 2024 Electoral College Presidential Electors Were 13 2020 Alleged Fake Electors, Some of Whom Await Trial on Fraud Charges In official meeting rooms around the country, 538 electors for the 2024 Presidential election met December 17th to cast their vote on behalf of their state’s results.  Thirteen of those Electoral...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 18, 2024 New Report Shows Gerrymandering’s Impact on Control of Congress Gerrymandering, the manipulation of voting district boundaries to engineer an election outcome which benefits a particular party, had a significant impact on control of the new Congress, according to a new report. To view the whole script of today’s report, ple...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 17, 2024 Ohio Voters Bill of Rights Ballot Measure Finally Authorized to Collect Signatures Following up our report on states which have passed a voting rights act comes an authorization to collect signatures for the Ohio Voters Bill of Rights, protecting voters from suppression tactics, and implementing reforms like automatic voter...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 16, 2024 Brian is gone today.  The current climate suggests that further VRA destruction is imminent, so expect pro-democracy states who've not already implemented state VRAs to act rapidly in 2025. With the SCOTUS Majority Intent on Dismantling the Voting Rights Act, Pro-Democracy States are Enacting State VRAs We reported recently...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 13, 2024 Updates for State Stories We’ve Been Following in North Carolina, Alaska, and Wisconsin We have updates on stories we’ve been following, including North Carolina’s  Supreme Court race & a power grab by its legislature, ranked choice voting in Alaska, and more charges in Wisconsin for Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme a...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 11, 2024 After losing two recounts in State Supreme Court Race, North Carolina GOP Candidate Is Still Challenging the Eligibility of 60,000 Voters After two recounts, an incumbent North Carolina Supreme Court justice was declared the winner by 734 votes, with 5.5 million ballots cast.  Her GOP challenger now claims 60,000 of those v...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 11, 2024 Restoration of Fair Voting Districts in Wisconsin Ends GOP Near Supermajority in Assembly and Senate If you follow the American Democracy Minute you know that until last year Wisconsin held the infamous title as one of the most gerrymandered states in the U.S.  That changed November 5th. To view the whole script of today’s...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 10, 2024 More than 83 Million Americans Voted Early in 2024. Trump Says He Wants  Rollbacks of Early In-Person and Mail Voting In the 2024 election, estimates show that more than 83 million Americans voted early in person, or by mail.  President Donald Trump said December 5th he wants to look at returning to “same day” voting. It’s...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 9, 2024 Brian is away today, but this report from earlier this year remains an important tool for election officials around the country to help make elections as accessible as possible. Ways Local Officials Can Expand Voter Participation and Recruit Election Workers Using Public/Private Partnerships The nonpartisan Fair Elections Ce...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 6, 2024 Before it Loses its Supermajority, the North Carolina Legislature Strips Election Powers from Its Governor, Bans AG from Opposing the Legislature.  Will the House Override the Veto? Before a new Democratic governor takes office in January and it loses its supermajority, the GOP-controlled North Carolina legislature used a hu...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 5, 2024 Control of the Minnesota House May Come Down to a Race Decided by 15 votes - and 21 Missing Absentee Ballots If you ever need proof that your vote matters, consider a Minnesota House race decided by only 15 votes. Or was it?  Twenty-one absentee ballots are missing, and hanging in the balance are not only who wins the distri...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 4, 2024 Brian is preparing for a meeting this evening, but this report is a great follow-up to yesterday's Presidential pardon primer. Can a U.S. President Pardon Him or Herself?  Legal Scholars Think The Question Will Likely End Up in the U.S. Supreme Court. Recently, we discussed the President’s broad powers and some limitations t...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 3, 2024 President Biden Pardons Son, Trump Previously-Pardoned Ambassador Nominee & Family Member.  How Did Presidential Pardons Evolve, and What Are Their Limitations? December 1st, President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter, convicted on federal gun and drug charges.  President-elect Trump recently nominated Charles Kushner,...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 2, 2024 Brian took a few days off, so we're revisiting a report from this past July which is even more relevent as the Trump administration takes shape. Would the Founding Fathers Have Embraced Having Unfettered Power for the Presidency?  Not Likely. Anti-authoritarian feelings ran high in the years before and after the signing of t...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 29, 2024 Brian's taking a couple of days off.  Here's a still-timely report from earlier this year! What is the ‘Gingles Test’ and How Does it Impact Minority Voting Rights? Today, we’re looking at a principle called the “Gingles Test” that federal courts use  when determining whether a gerrymandered redistricting map is a violation...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 28, 2024 Brian is taking off a couple of days, but for Thanksgiving Day, is repeating a report on the increasing voter suppression of Native Americans.  Rank and file voters of all parties find this appalling, but few know that their party perpetrates such suppression tactics to protect political power. Voter Suppression of Native A...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 27, 2024 The Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause was Intended to Stop Bribery and Corruption.  Recently, Not So Much. The framers of the U.S. Constitution included the Foreign Emoluments Clause because they feared the influence, corruption and bribery they witnessed in Europe’s monarchies.  Why should Americans care about it? T...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 26, 2024 The Presidential Transition Turns Into One Big Dark Money Special Interest Swamp Federal election law governs campaign contributions directly to Presidential candidates.  But when an incoming administration refuses to follow the Presidential transition rules, those contributions become an unregulated spigot of special inter...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 25, 2024 Alaska’s Ranked Choice Voting and ‘Top 4’ Open Primaries Survive Repeal Referendum - By a Whisker With a razor-thin statewide margin of 664 votes, ranked choice voting and open primaries weathered a repeal challenge in Alaska, one of the few democracy reforms to survive the 2024 Presidential election cycle.  To view the who...