American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 17, 2024 U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Washington State Case Challenging the Washington Voting Rights Act Washington state voters can breathe easier, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to the Washington Voting Rights Act, passed in response to the stripping Voting Rights Act protections by the same court...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 16, 2024 Doesn’t U.S. Law Already Prohibit Non-Citizens from Voting in Federal Elections?  Yes, it Does. In an announcement April 11th heralded as a major “election integrity” policy proposal, former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson announced their intention to require proof of citizenship to vote.  Spoiler ale...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 15, 2024 Ever Wonder The Reason It Took So Long for the IRS to Offer an Online Tax Preparation App?   Big Money Lobbying. The IRS has a pilot program in 12 states this year to file your personal taxes online for free without the use of 3rd party software.   Wonder why it took so long?   Big money lobbying. To view the whole script...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 12, 2024 Michigan Case Which Used the ‘Independent State Legislature Theory’ to Challenge Voting Rights Ballot Questions is Dismissed We reported last October that 11 Michigan GOP legislators used the “Independent State Legislature” theory to challenge two Michigan ballot questions expanding voting rights.  A federal judge dismisse...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 11, 2024 National Study of Elections Officials Confirms Turnover from Harassment, But Also Finds An Aging Workforce and Increasing Workloads are Factors Disinformation spread about the 2020 election by candidates & partisan groups mobilized extremists to harass or threaten election officials. Many of those officials resigned. ...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 10, 2024 Trying to Game the System, Missouri Legislature Proposes Ballot Question Rule Changes to Head Off Reproductive Rights Question in November In the face of a reproductive rights ballot question later this year, Missouri’s legislature is the latest to try to game the system, making the passage of ballot initiatives harder, an...

One more day of repeats and we're back doing new reports!   Thanks for your patience while we navigated the challenges of the past week.  - Brian Beihl The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 9, 2024 Nonpartisan Report Recommends Ways Local Officials Can Expand Voter Participation and Recruit Election Workers Using Public/Private Partnerships The nonpartisan Fair Electio...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 8, 2024 Another day of no power and no interenet in my area of New Hampshire – we’ve been out since April 3rd — so we’re posting a report from mid-February. There were crews working down the street, so hopefully soon! – Brian Beihl True the Vote’s Claim of Evidence of 2020 Ballot Stuffing in Georgia Were . . . Not True The election...

Today, Brian is one of over a 100,000 electric customers in NH without power, due to high winds and over a foot of heavy, wet snow.   Fortunately, we still have internet -- for now -- and are writing under generator power.   Here's an important rebroadcast from February.  Have a good weekend;  I'll be shoveling! The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 5, 2024 Survey Find...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 4, 2024 In April 2 Presidential Primaries, Wisconsin Voters Approve Restraints on Running Elections, and Large Numbers of Voters Unhappy With Nominees April 2nd, Wisconsin voters passed two ballot questions impacting how local elections are run, and in Wisconsin and other states’ primaries, large numbers of voters made it known the...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 3, 2024 Despite the Salacious Details, Trump’s Alleged NY ‘Hush Money’ Actions Covered Up Serious Campaign Finance Violations  On the eve of former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial, the media has focused on the salacious details, but not as much on the cover-up of less titillating campaign finance violations.   To view...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 2, 2024 Montana Supreme Court Throws Out Four Anti-Voter Laws Targeting Native American, Younger, Elderly, and Disabled Voters In a victory for voters, Montana’s Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision March 27th, striking down four anti-voter laws which disproportionately impacted younger, disabled and Native American voters....

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 1, 2024 Federal Courts Leave Racially Gerrymandered South Carolina, North Carolina & Florida Maps in Place for 2024 Election Three federal court actions last week in South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida cases let stand racially-gerrymandered maps diluting Black voting power.  Those diluted maps neutralize the voice of Bla...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 29, 2024 Arizona Senate Committee Endorses Constitutional Amendment Ending the State’s Popular No-Excuse Mail-in and Early In-Person Voting An Arizona Senate committee March 18th endorsed a 2024 constitutional amendment ballot question which would end no-excuse mail-in voting, end in-person early voting, and remove county authority...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 28, 2024 Have You Been Purged?  States Have Stepped Up Removals of Inactive Voters - Sometimes for Partisan Advantage – and It’s Time to Check Your Registration Maintenance of voter registration lists is a standard practice, to remove voters who’ve died, moved, or are no longer eligible.  But some hyper-partisan legislatures and st...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 27, 2024 Five States Are Considering Conspiracy-Fueled Legislation Which Bans Ballot Tabulators.  But Fed-Up Voters are Pushing Back. Five states are considering legislation banning electronic ballot tabulators, driven by debunked conspiracy theories that the machines were used to rig the 2020 election.  Where hand counting has bee...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 26, 2024 April 2nd Wisconsin Ballot Measures Would Prohibit Outside Help & Funding, Hampering Small Town Elections While the candidates for President have already been decided, April 2nd, Wisconsin voters must still vote on two important ballot questions with roots in 2020 conspiracy theories.  One constitutionally bans outside...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 25, 2024 Brian has just returned from traveling.   A new episode for Tuesday will be posted  Monday by noon.  How the Changing Social Media Landscape Could Hamper the Fight Against Disinformation from Both Foreign and Domestic Bad Actors We reported recently on Russia’s anticipated 2024 election influence campaign, much of which is...

Brian is traveling today, and we have a rebroadcast of an important study by Issue One that came out last fall. An example of this debased logic was a hand count that Votebeat Texas covered in Gillespie County , where only 8,000 ballots were cast. It took more election workers until 4:30 in the morning, and it's now become apparent that there are counting errors in almost every precinct . All beca...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 21, 2024 Brian is traveling Wed-Thurs-Friday, so we're posting some still-timely rebroadcasts.   You can follow the reported expenditures of the 2024 Presidential candidates at BallotPedia or Open Secrets .   At the 14th Anniversary of Citizens United, SuperPACs and Candidates Spent Over $300 Million in IA, NH & SC January 21st...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 20, 2024 Federal Court Releases Redistricting Maps After Striking Down Districts Diluting Latino Voting Power A Washington State fight over Latino voting rights may still not be over, but March 15th, a federal judge approved new state house and senate maps for central Washington State.  The previous Washington State Redistricting C...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 19, 2024 NH ‘Election Information Portal’ Funding Passes State Senate.  Will the Granite State Finally Enter the 21st Century? Former New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner famously quipped, “You can’t hack a pencil.”  Perhaps, but that mindset has set the Granite State decades behind in its election technology.  Now, there’...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 18, 2024 ‘Election Integrity’ Gone Bad:  Updates on Michigan’s Electronic Ballot Tabulator Tampering Cases We reported extensively last year on the alleged tampering of electronic vote tabulators in Michigan following the 2020 election.  The first of three trials is imminent, but after failing to appear at multiple court hearings,...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 15, 2024 Never Mind . . . After Trump Shake-Up at RNC, 'Bank Your Vote' Mail-In Voting Campaign Dropped, 'Election Integrity' Unit Created Instead We reported last month that the Republican National Committee unveiled its 2024 “Bank the Vote” campaign to encourage Republicans to vote early and by mail to mobilize elderly and disabl...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 14, 2024 NC Legislature’s Stripping of Governor’s Appointment Power to Election Boards Overturned; SCOTUS Decision Expected in SC Gerrymandering Case A North Carolina appeals court struck down the state legislature’s new law removing the governor’s appointment power for election boards.  And a decision in a South Carolina gerrymand...