American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 13, 2024 NV Judge Upholds Discriminatory Voter ID Ballot Measure, While Striking Down Another Ballot Measure Establishing an Independent Redistricting Commission A Nevada circuit court judge issued a pair of eyebrow-raising orders March 6th on proposed citizen ballot measures. One order UPHELD a proposed strict and possibly discrim...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 12, 2024 Alabama Legislature Poised to Add More Barriers to Absentee Voting, Claiming ‘Ballot Harvesting,’ Despite No Evidence The Alabama legislature is poised to further restrict absentee voting, claiming it is protecting elections from “ballot harvesting.”  Democracy advocates point to little evidence of abuse, and claim it’s an...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 11, 2024 Oregon Legislature Passes Campaign Contribution Limits and Disclosure, Dodging an Even Stricter Ballot Initiative Oregon’s legislature took a step March 7th to limit the influence of money in politics by capping campaign finance contributions.  But it may preempt an even stricter ballot initiative. To view the whole script...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 8, 2024 Iowa House Requires Mail Ballots to Be Returned Before Election Day, Bans RCV, and Allows Convicted Felons to Qualify to Run in Federal Elections The Republican-dominated Iowa House passed regulations March 5th which would require voters to return mail ballots the day BEFORE election day. House File 2610 also stops use of b...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 6, 2024 Nonpartisan Report Recommends Ways Local Officials Can Expand Voter Participation and Recruit Election Workers Using Public/Private Partnerships The nonpartisan Fair Elections Center released a report to state and local election officials in February suggesting ways voter participation can be expanded.  Recommendations incl...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 6, 2024 After Cleaning Up Gerrymandered State Senate & Assembly Districts, the Wisconsin Supreme Court Passes on Congressional Districts March 1st, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to the state’s Congressional districts, after throwing out state assembly and senate maps as unconstitutional late last year...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 5, 2024 U.S. Supreme Court Unanimously Reverses Colorado Court’s Removal of Donald Trump from the State’s Ballot  In a unanimous decision March 4th, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Donald Trump from the Colorado State ballot, ending state efforts to enforce the 14th Amendment’s S...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 4, 2024 John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act Reintroduced to Restore VRA “Preclearance” Requirements for States with Ongoing Voter Suppression The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act has been reintroduced in the U.S Senate, backed by virtually every civil rights and democracy organization in the country.   What is this lan...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 1, 2024 After Caving to Conspiracy Theorists, States Which Left ERIC Now Using  Weaker & More Expensive Alternatives; At Least One State May Rejoin ERIC. Last year, we followed the exodus of nine states from the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, driven by baseless conspiracy theories. The states which left ar...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 9, 2023 Delaware Court Strikes Down Permanent Absentee Voter List and Early Voting Laws as Unconstitutional, Affecting Tens of Thousands for 2024 A Delaware Superior Court judge struck down two early voting laws Feb. 23rd affecting tens of thousands of voters who were approved for a permanent absentee ballot list, and those who choos...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 28, 2024 In Four Super Tuesday Primary States There’s Still Time to Register to Vote, Thanks to Election Day Registration The 17-state Super Tuesday Presidential Primary is March 5th.   In 10 of those states, if you haven’t already registered to vote, you’re out of luck.   But thanks to same-day registration rules in seven of those...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 27, 2024 The RNC Weaves a Tangled Web, Pushing Early & Mail-In Voting to Its Base, While Litigating and Legislating to Limit It In Swing States We reported yesterday that GOP state efforts in Florida to discourage voting by mail could also suppress Republican voters otherwise unable to get to the polls.  Afraid of losing votes n...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 26, 2024 A Majority of Americans Like Voting by Mail - Including Many Florida Republicans.  Making it Harder May Keep Them From Voting, Too. One of the conspiracy theories trumpeted after the 2020 elections was that voting by mail leads to widespread voter fraud.  None of it was true.  But, the GOP attack on mail-in voting risks sup...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 23, 2024 Not One, Not Two, But Three Lawsuits Contesting Arizona’s New Election Procedure Manual for Election Officials We’re in Arizona today, where a new and normally mundane Election Procedure Manual for election officials has attracted not one, not two, but three GOP lawsuits.  Our podcasting host recently made changes which sto...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb 22, 2024 True the Vote’s Claim of Evidence of 2020 Ballot Stuffing in Georgia Were . . . Not True The election denier group True the Vote is one of the loudest and most aggressive in casting doubt on the 2020 election.  In Georgia, its claims of fraudulent absentee ballots being deposited in drop boxes was used in a documentary, parr...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 21, 2024 WI Gov. Signs Fairer Maps, MO High Court Rejects Challenge to State Senate Map, and NV’s Redistricting Commission Ballot Question Struck Down  Wisconsin’s governor signed off on state legislative maps February 19th, fixing  some of the worst gerrymandering in the U.S.  Missouri’s Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the st...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 20, 2024 NY’s Redistricting Commission Proposes Another Congressional Map with a Slight Democratic Edge, But This Time with a 9-1 Bipartisan Endorsement When we last reported on New York’s Congressional redistricting drama, the state supreme court threw out a special master’s competitive map because the state’s Independent Redistric...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 19, 2024 In Win for Voters, George Election Board Refuses to Recommend Dropping No-Excuse Absentee Voting to Legislature A bipartisan effort in 2005 implemented no-excuse absentee voting in Georgia, and in 19 years, there have been only six convictions of absentee voter fraud.  Despite that tiny number, the state’s election board ha...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 16, 2024 CISA & FBI Warn Secretaries of State to Prepare for Potential Cyberattacks and AI Voter Suppression Before the 2024 Election Election security experts warned the country’s secretaries of state to take immediate steps to harden their election systems in both cities and rural precincts,  and prepare for cyber and AI elect...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 15, 2024 In a Game of Chicken with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, GOP Legislators Pass Somewhat Competitive Redistricting Maps in Effort to Avoid Truly Fair Maps In a game of chicken with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, GOP legislators passed somewhat competitive redistricting maps proposed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, to avoid having tru...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 14, 2024 Updates on Trump’s Immunity Challenge, AI Robocalls, and Election Denier-Fueled Hand Counting of Ballots We’re updating recent stories today, including Donald Trump’s request for a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court on his immunity case, action by the FCC on use of AI in robocalls, and more misguided attempts at large-scale h...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 13, 2024 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 and two weeks of in person early voting, but also think voters...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb 12, 2024 Scholars Question SCOTUS LeanToward Not Allowing States to Ban Federal Candidates as It Tries to Navigate a 14th Amendment Minefield After oral arguments were heard February 8th in Donald Trump’s 14th Amendment eligibility case, some legal scholars voiced concerns that the pending decision could have dangerous consequences....

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb 9, 2024 Arizona Legislator and 2020 Fake Elector Proposes the State Legislature – Not the Voters – Should Pick the State’s Presidential Electors An Arizona State Senator has introduced a resolution to take the state’s voters out of the U.S. Presidential election process.  Not surprisingly, the Senator is also under investigation as o...

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT & LINKS February 8, 2024 U.S. Supreme Court Live Stream of Oral Arguments in Donald Trump’s Eligibility for Office Under the 14th Amendment, Section 3 -  10 AM Eastern  We urge our listeners to tune into the oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court today, as former President Donald Trump challenges the ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court that he is ineligible for office....