American Democracy Minute

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 28, 2023 State Supreme Courts in New Mexico and Ohio Uphold Redistricting Maps.  One of these is not Like the Other. The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling on Nov. 27th, allowing the state’s Congressional districts to stand.  The same day, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld gerrymandered state legislature maps which h...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 28, 2023 Radical Decision by Appeals Court in Arkansas Case Greenlights North Dakota Appeal to Restore Maps Designed to Suppress Native American Voting Power A radical decision last week in an Arkansas racial gerrymandering case stopped voters and democracy groups from suing under the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The State of North Dakot...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 23, 2023 Court Challenges to Trump’s Ballot Eligibility are Pending in 17 States.   Losses in Colorado & Michigan are Being Appealed. A Colorado circuit court judge ruled that President Donald Trump DID “engage in insurrection,” but that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t specifically disqualify U.S. Presidents from holding office un...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 24, 2023 Brian is out today, and while this is a repeat of Aug. 15, 2023, two weeks ago, the language for Independent Redistricting Commission ballot initiative was greenlighted by the Ohio Ballot Board . Ohio’s Politician-Led Redistricting Commission Failed.  Citizens Are Proposing a Citizen-Led Commission Instead. With 70% of the...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 23, 2023 Oral Arguments Heard by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Constitutionality of the the State’s Extreme Gerrymandered Maps After months of campaigning, intrigue, impeachment threats, and partisan hard ball, oral arguments were finally heard November 21st on the constitutionality of extreme gerrymanders in Wisconsin’s state asse...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 22, 2023 Radical Federal Court of Appeals Ruling Deals Another Blow to Voters, Democracy Groups and the Voting Rights Act  A Nov. 20th federal appeals court decision ruled that only the U.S. Attorney General can bring a voting rights lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act. The decision, a radical departure from settled law, erects barr...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 21, 2023 Why was California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission Successful, While New York’s Commission Resulted in Gerrymandering & Court Cases? While New York’s bipartisan redistricting commission struggled, the successful California Citizen Redistricting Commission maps were passed unanimously in 2021 with no litigation.  New...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 17, 2023 Will an Appeal Give New York’s Bipartisan Redistricting Committee Another Chance to Draw Fair Maps? In 2014, a New York constitutional amendment created the New York Independent Redistricting Commission.  But the redistricting commission lacked both independence and authority, and the 2021 maps ended up in the legislature a...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 17, 2023 Ranked Choice Voting Wins in Michigan Cities Blocked by State Law; Voter Choice Act RCV Bill Reintroduced in U.S. Senate Voters in three Michigan cities approved ranked choice voting November 7th, but state law doesn’t yet allow it.   November 15th, the Voter Choice Act was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate, proposing matchin...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 16, 2023 While Some States Seek to Close Primaries, Nevada and Arizona Consider Open Primaries to Include Independent Voters and Offer More Choice  Closed primaries keep independents, the fastest growing block of voters, from voting in a Republican or Democratic primary.  To include unaffiliated voters and offer all voters more choi...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 15, 2023 Fears of Crossover Voting Driving Party Activists to Close Primaries - But at the Expense of Silencing Independent Voters This past year, party activists in several states proposed CLOSING their primaries to anyone not registered with that party. Why?  A fear of “crossover voting” to derail extreme candidates seems to be th...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 13, 2023 Appeals Court (Finally) Finds Louisiana Congressional Map was Discriminatory; Orders New Maps to Be Drawn by January 15 After multiple appeals, Louisiana is close to getting fair Congressional maps for the 2024 election, after a November 10th appeals court decision directed the legislature to draw new maps by January 15th....

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 13, 2023 After a Canadian Utility Spent $22 Million Dollars to Influence a Ballot Measure, Maine Voters Ban Foreign Money in State Elections With an astounding 86.4% vote on November 7th, Maine passed a citizen ballot initiative banning foreign campaign contributions to state candidates and ballot measures.  How much foreign money c...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 10, 2023 (Rebroadcast of Aug. 28, 2023)   Can a U.S. President Pardon Him or Herself?  The Question Will Likely End Up in the U.S. Supreme Court.  Last week, we discussed the President’s broad powers and some limitations to issue a pardon. But can a U.S. President pardon him or herself? Our podcasting host recently made changes whic...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 9, 2023 Who Can Vote in a State Primary? Well, that Depends on Where You Live and Sometimes Whether You Belong to a Political Party A New Hampshire GOP resolution recently surfaced to “close” its party primary to the state’s unaffiliated voters. What ARE the types of primaries, who can vote in them, and who decides?  Turns out, it’s...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 8, 2023 Is Voting a Fundamental Right?  The Kansas Supreme Court Hears a Case Where the State Argues It’s Not. In defense of two restrictive voting laws, the State of Kansas argued to the Kansas Supreme Court Friday that voting is NOT a fundamental state constitutional right, as an appeals court had ruled.  Our podcasting host recen...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 6, 2023 States Bailing Out of ERIC are Reinventing the “Election Integrity” Wheel, But With Less Accurate and Likely More Expensive Results Far right activists pushing fringe conspiracy theories pressured red state legislatures and election officials to pull out of the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC.  But propos...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 3, 2023 Virginia’s Governor Ended Automatic Voting Rights Restoration for 12,000 Returning Felons this Year.  A State Error Almost Disenfranchised 3,400 More. News broke recently that the State of Virginia mistakenly revoked voting rights for 270 formerly incarcerated felons whose rights had previously  been restored.  An investigat...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 3, 2023   Frightening Survey Results Show Increases in Americans Who Think Violence May Be Needed and Leaders Should Break Rules to “Save Our Country” A frightening survey released last week found substantial increases in the number of Americans who thought that the country needed leaders to break rules - authoritarianism - and that...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 2, 2023 Three Democracy Court Cases in Wisconsin May Impact Election Administration, Gerrymandering and Absentee Ballots We’re back in Wisconsin where three democracy lawsuits may have an impact on the state’s election administration, access to absentee ballots, and gerrymandered voting districts. Our podcasting host recently made c...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 31, 2023 Colorado, Minnesota & Michigan Courts Consider “Insurrection Act” Cases to Keep Trump Off the Ballot A trial opened Monday in a Denver, Colorado courtroom to determine whether former President Donald Trump should be excluded from the 2024 Colorado ballot.  Similar cases are pending in Minnesota and Michigan. Our podcast...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 31, 2023 Federal District Court Orders Georgia’s Racially Gerrymandered Congressional Map to Be Redrawn by December 8th A federal district court found that the State of Georgia’s Congressional voting district map is in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Similar to Alabama, the judge ordered a new map to include an additional majori...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 27, 2023 Just in Time for Halloween, Michigan Case Tries to Reanimate the Independent State Legislature Theory and Kill Democracy Reforms Just in time for Halloween, Michigan GOP legislators are attempting to reanimate the rejected Independent State Legislature theory to invalidate a voting rights citizen ballot initiative passed in...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 26, 2023 State Appeals Court Uphold Ruling Striking Down Four Michigan Rules Governing Partisan Poll Challengers Four rules governing partisan poll challengers in Michigan’s election official handbook will have to be removed or enacted by the legislature, according to a Michigan appeals court. Our podcasting host recently made chang...

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 25, 2023 U.S. Government Warns Officials in Over 100 Countries About Ongoing Russian Meddling in Democratic Elections The U.S. government sent a diplomatic cable October 20th to over 100 countries  warning of Russia’s efforts to disrupt elections, including amplifying disinformation like the Stop the Steal movement here in the U.S....