American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb 8, 2024 Suspected Senders Identified in AI-Generated Robo Calls Faking Joe Biden’s Voice Before New Hampshire’s Presidential Primary Our podcasting host recently made changes which stops us from including our entire script as part of the podcast content.  To view the whole script, please go to our website and find today's report. Tod...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 7, 2024 Federal Appeals Court Finds Donald Trump Does Not Have Immunity from Prosecution The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously February 6th that Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity from prosecution for alleged criminal actions after leaving the White House. Our podcasting host recently made changes which s...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 5, 2024 SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments Thursday in Trump’s 14th Amendment-Based Removal from Colorado’s Ballot Thursday, February 8th, 10 AM Eastern, the U.S. Supreme Court hears a challenge from former President Donald Trump to Colorado’s decision to ban him from the state’s Presidential primary under the 14th Amendment. Our podcastin...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 5, 2024 It’s Been a Year Since the East Palestine Toxic Train Derailment.  Since then, the Rail Industry Spent Millions in Congress to Stop More Regulation. February 3rd, 2023, 38 Norfolk Southern rail cars detailed in East Palestine, OH, 20 of which carried hazardous materials, and 11 of which caught fire.   The Railway Safety Act...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 2, 2024 Georgia has a $75 Million Runoff Election Problem.  Ranked Choice Voting Would Solve It, But Instead, the Georgia Senate Just Voted to Ban RCV. Georgia is the only state which conducts runoffs for both general AND primary elections when no candidate receives a 50% majority.  But runoff elections are time consuming, have low...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 1, 2024 Federal Appeals Court Denies Rehearing of Radical Arkansas Voting Rights Act Ruling Shutting Out Voters & Democracy Groups from Bringing Cases I n Nov. 2023, an 8th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s radical ruling that Arkansas voters did not have the right to sue under the 1965 Voting Rights Act. ...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 31, 2024 The U.S. Supreme Court hears the Appeal of Donald Trump’s Eligibility in February, But Where Do the Many State Cases Stand? While we wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on former President Trump’s appeal to the Colorado 14th amendment ballot eligibility decision, we have updates on other recent state cases.  Our podcast...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 30, 2024 Wisconsin Senate Defiantly Passes Gerrymandered Replacement State Assembly and Senate Maps, But Won’t Have the Last Word After having its earlier state assembly and senate maps thrown out by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in early January, the Wisconsin legislature tried to preserve its partisan advantage with its new maps.  B...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 29, 2024 Mixed News for North Carolina Voters, as Federal Courts Temporarily Block Voter Suppression Bill but Uphold Racially Gerrymandered Maps Opinions in two North Carolina cases offer both good democracy news and bad.   A sweeping voter suppression bill was temporarily blocked, but a gerrymandered state senate map diluting Black...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 26, 2024 Two Florida Anti-Voter Redistricting and Voting Rights Laws Headed Back to Court We have updates on two Florida anti-voter court cases, a racial gerrymandering case which will finally be heard by the Florida Supreme Court, and another, restricting third-party voter registration organizations, is headed to a federal appeals...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 25, 2024 By the 14th Anniversary of Citizens United, SuperPACs and Candidates Spent Over $300 Million in IA, NH & SC January 21st was the 14th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates of money in political campaigns.   In Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, over $300 Milli...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 24, 2024 SCOTUS Declines Stay Request from Michigan’s Independent Redistricting Commission; 19 State House & Senate Districts to be Redrawn We reported January 16th on a federal court finding that maps drawn by Michigan’s Independent Citizen Redistricting Commission diluted Black voting power and must be redrawn.  An appeal to k...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 23, 2024 Voter ID Clarity Needed in North Carolina, and Better Pay Requested for Poll Workers in South Carolina We’re in the Carolinas today, where South Carolina’s election director appealed for higher pay to replace poll workers driven off by threats and low wages, and North Carolina democracy groups want clarity of new restrictiv...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 22, 2024 On the Eve of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Some States Contemplate Closing their Primaries to Independents, While Others Consider Opening Them  A Gallup poll released this month found 43% of Americans identify as unaffiliated, independent voters. But in some states, they can’t vote in primaries. As voting begins...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 19, 2024 Virginia’s Prince William County Accounts for Mistakes in the 2020 Election and Implements Changes in Personnel, Validation and Reporting Prince William County, Virginia announced January 11th that human and data errors in the 2020 election resulted in an overcounting of votes for Donald Trump, and an undercounting of total...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 18, 2024 Louisiana Legislature Hashes Out New Court-Ordered Congressional Maps with Two Majority Black Districts Racing the clock, the Louisiana legislature meets this week to hash out new court-ordered Congressional voting districts, with two of them being majority Black.  They’re also considering new state supreme court districts....

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 17, 2024 New State Voting District Maps Submitted to the Wisconsin Supreme Court Range from Status Quo to Competitive Seven sets of state legislative maps were submitted to the Wisconsin Supreme Court January 12th, ranging from a Republican-dominated status quo, to competitive.   Our podcasting host recently made changes which stops...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 16, 2024 Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission’s Maps for Greater Detroit Under Scrutiny for Voting Rights Act Violations. What Happened? In December 2023, a federal court threw out state redistricting maps for greater Detroit, drawn by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, or MICRC. Truly inde...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 15, 2024 Martin Luther King’s “March on Ballot Boxes” Speech in South Carolina, May 9, 1966 On May 9, 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in Kingstree, SC about the importance of voting on the eve of a state primary.  We have a portion of his speech, and a link to the full recording. Our podcasting host recently made changes whi...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 12, 2024 Bills in Florida & Kentucky Would Revoke “No-Excuse” Absentee Voting – Despite its Popularity with Voters Bills in Florida and Kentucky would revoke “no-excuse” absentee voting, despite its popularity with voters of all ages.  Alleged “voter fraud” is cited, but its motivation is likely more partisan than preventative....

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 11, 2024 New Poll Shows the Lowest Satisfaction with American Democracy in 40 Years With America’s polarization, a special-interest driven Congress, a former President with 91 criminal indictments, a compromised U.S. Supreme Court, and rogue state legislatures, a newly updated Gallup poll shows satisfaction with American democracy p...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 10, 2024 Another Blow to Ohio’s Unhoused, Elderly, Student and Disabled Voters, This Time from a Federal Court In January 2023, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed HB 458, one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the country. It also tightened several absentee voting rules.  On January 8th, 2024, a federal court upheld HB 458, affectin...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 9, 2024 2024 Democracy Rollercoaster in Wisconsin, with Redistricting Challenges, Voting Rights Lawsuits, and a Close Election in Key Battleground State With narrow margins between Republican and Democratic voters in Wisconsin, both parties are fighting for every inch of ground before the state’s 2024 election, upon which both the P...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 8, 2024 U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Appeal of Trump’s Ban from Colorado Ballot Feb. 8th; More State Challenges Filed In a brief order released Friday, January 5th, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal on February 8th of former President Donald Trump, disputing his pending disqualification from the Colorado Presiden...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 5, 2024 Democracy News Wasn’t All Bad in 2023;  MI, MN, NM, CT, PA, & NY All Passed Substantial Pro-Voter Legislation  While some state legislatures are making it harder to vote, a 2023 recap from Voting Rights Lab shows a few states passed legislation to help people register to vote and to make voting more accessible to all cit...