American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 5, 2024 GOP Lawsuit Targets 225,000 Registered Voters in North Carolina Only Days Before Early Voting, and 11 Weeks Before the Election In a last-ditch effort to purge voters in swing state North Carolina, the GOP has sued the state election board in state superior court to examine the eligibility of 225,000 voters - just days befo...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 4, 2024 After Losing in Court and at the Polls, Utah Legislature Approves Nov. Ballot Measure to Veto or Alter Citizen Ballot Measures to Protect Its Power In a move exemplifying why gerrymandering is a danger to American democracy, the Utah legislature approved a politician-crafted constitutional amendment ballot measure to give i...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 3, 2024 Brian is off today, so we're rebroadcasting a still-timely report from June 13, 2024 FL Voters Decide Nov. 5th Whether to Keep Their Small Donor Matching Program, or Turn Funding of Campaigns Over to Special Interests Amendment 6, a repeal of Florida’s public funding of elections option, faces voters on November 5th.  Such...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 2, 2024 Is Organized Labor the Campaign Money Bogey Man the Right Claims? The Data Shows Otherwise. For most of the last century, labor unions could be counted on for financial campaign contributions to state and federal Democratic candidates.  That union support has also been vilified by Republicans as a thumb on the scale in elec...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 30, 2024 Will Alaska Keep Its Open Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting?   An Upcoming Ballot Initiative, Plagued With Problems, is Critical Test Alaska implemented its Top 4 open primary and ranked choice voting system in 2022, after voters approved Ballot Measure 2 in 2020 in a close vote. A right wing ballot measure to repeal it, m...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 29, 2024 Special Counsel Submits Revised Criminal Conspiracy Indictment of Trump After SCOTUS Immunity Ruling on Presidential Powers Special Counsel Jack Smith submitted a revised criminal conspiracy indictment of former President Donald Trump Aug. 27th, adjusted to remove actions deemed “official acts” by the U.S. Supreme Court’s c...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 28, 2024 Fallout from Georgia State Election Board Decisions; Accusations that Texas AG Paxton’s Raids Homes of LatinX Democracy Activists Were ‘Intimidation’ Tactic We have updates on two state stories today.  New reporting suggests Georgia officials may seek to remove State Election Board members for recent fringe rule changes.  ...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 27, 2024 U.S. Supreme Court Restores Part of Arizona Law Aimed at Disenfranchising Native Americans and College Students In a 5-4 vote August 22nd, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated part of an Arizona voter suppression bill requiring citizens to provide proof of citizenship in addition to other identity documents.  The law targets N...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 26, 2024 Passing the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act are Top Priorities for Democrats, But They Need Majorities to Do It Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said during the Democratic National Convention that he would make passing the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 23, 2024 New York Court of Appeals Upholds Constitutionality of New Early Mail Ballot Law New York’s highest court upheld two lower court rulings August 20th, giving New Yorkers the opportunity to routinely vote early by mail without an excuse.  The decision rebuffed state and national GOP leaders who sued to overturn it.  To view t...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 21, 2024 Ohio SOS Under Fire Again, This Time for Sabotaging the Ballot Measure Description for a Citizen-Led Redistricting Commission Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is again under fire, this time for attempting to undercut a citizen-run redistricting commission ballot initiative which threatens to undo politician-drawn gerrym...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 21, 2024 Brian is traveling early this week, so we've inserted a timely rebroadcast from May. The Purcell Principle:  A SCOTUS Decision Intended to Avoid Voter Confusion May Now Be a Stealth Voter Suppression Tactic You may have heard references to the “Purcell principle” in news reports.  What started as a U.S. Supreme Court opinio...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 20, 2024 Brian is out of town for a couple of days.  New broadcasts later this week. What Voter Harassment & Intimidation Might We Face in 2024?    A New Report Shows Election Officials What to Look For, and How to Combat It A new report outlines the types of harassment and intimidation we might face in the 2024 elections, how t...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 19, 2024 Colorado Election Official Who Allowed 2020 Conspiracy Theory Activists Access to County Voting Machine Data Found Guilty In the midst of our series on protections against bad actors not certifying the Presidential election came the news of the felony conviction of a former Colorado election official who allowed election de...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 16, 2024 What if Your State's Chief Election Officer Blocks Certification of the Presidential Election? In the last report of our series on protections against overturning the Presidential election, we consider what happens if the state official authorized to certify your state’s election results refuses to do so.   It’s not as far-...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 15, 2024 New Report Recommends State Officials Be Proactive to Keep Rogue County Election Boards from Not Certifying Elections  Our series on keeping our Presidential election from being overturned by bad actors explained how the new Electoral Count Reform Act clarifies federal and state rules.  But we’ve also learned how the blocki...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 14, 2024 The Electoral Count Reform Act Adds Federal and State Protections, But It Won’t Stop Local Loyalists fromThrowing a Wrench in the Works Our series on the federal Electoral Count Reform Act shows that it does offer protections of Presidential elections from fake electors and rogue legislatures, and clarifies rules, deadlines...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 13, 2024 The Electoral Count Reform Act Improves State Rules for Certifying and Protecting Presidential Elections We’re continuing our series exploring whether new rules will protect our Presidential election process from being hijacked by bad actors. The Electoral Count Reform Act added safeguards in Congress and clarified the role...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 12, 2024 What is the Electoral Count Reform Act and How Will it Protect the 2024 Election at the Federal Level? We’re beginning a series exploring whether our Presidential election is safer now from being overturned by bad actors.  In our first report, we examine new protections in the federal Electoral Count Reform Act, then what p...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 9, 2024 Ninety Days Before the Election Georgia Launches ‘Voter Registration Cancellation Portal’ and Changes Rules on Certifying Elections Just 90 days before the 2024 election, the State of Georgia took actions which could impact the outcome, launching a controversial web page to cancel voter registrations, and allowing county ele...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 8, 2024 How Do VP Candidates Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance Compare on Democracy Issues?  The choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Trump’s pick of Senator J.D. Vance raises a question for pro-democracy voters.  How do the VP candidates stand on democracy i...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 7, 2024 Arizona: Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis Cooperating in Fake Elector Investigation; Fearing Violence, Schools Opt Out as Polling Places Trump election lawyer Jenna Ellis made a cooperation deal in Arizona’s fake elector investigation, while Arizona election officials scramble to find polling places after school districts, fearing e...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 6, 2024 American Bar Association’s ‘Task Force for American Democracy’ Urges Members to Take Larger Community Role to Protect Election System Citing imminent threats to our election system, the American Bar Association’s Task Force for American Democracy released a report recommending ways legal professionals can take a larger commu...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 5, 2024 Federal Appeals Court Says a Texas Coalition of Black and Latinx Voters Doesn’t Qualify as a Majority Minority Voting District Black & Latinx voters sued Galveston County, TX in 2022 over racially gerrymandered voting maps intended to dilute the power of minority voters.  The lower court judge in the case called the maps...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 2, 2024 The End of One South Carolina Gerrymandering Lawsuit, and the Beginning of Another, as the Fight for Fair Maps Continues In May, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a racially gerrymandered South Carolina Congressional district and made future racial gerrymandering cases more difficult.  July 29th, pro-voter groups filed a state s...