American Democracy Minute

March 14 & 15, North Carolina Supreme Court Re-Hears Cases with National Implications Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Democracy Docket - North Carolina Supreme Court Will Rehear Two Voting Rights Cases With New GOP Majority Associated Press - N. Carolina justices quickly revisit redistricting, voter ID NC Policy Watch - Organizers plan rally at the Capitol before Supreme Court hears vo...

Two Bills Introduced in Congress Would Expand Mail-In Voting in States,  Fund Election Administration Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Oregon Capital Chronicle - Wyden, Blumenauer try again to export Oregon mail voting, automatic registration to rest of US Sen. Ron Wyden - Vote at Home Act Sen. Amy Klobuchar - Sustaining Our Democracy Act HR 7992 (2022 version)   (2023 Sustaining Our Democr...

Racketeering Convictions for Former Ohio House Speaker & GOP Chair in Corporate Influence Scandal Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Ohio Capital Journal - Ohio House speaker, four others arrested amid massive dark-money, pay-to-play allegations Ohio Capital Journal - Former Ohio speaker, GOP chair both found guilty of racketeering Associated Press - Ex-GOP Ohio speaker, lobbyist guilty i...

State Legislatures Attempting to Limit Voter Power by Making Citizen Ballot Initiatives Harder to Win Today’s Links Articles & Resources: WOSU - Ohio Republicans continue pursuing plan to raise ballot amendment threshold Ohio Capital Journal (Commentary)  - In 1912, Ohio voters asserted their democratic authority. Now Ohio Republicans want to rip it away Idaho Capital Sun - Idaho Senate OKs pr...

States Are Leaving the ERIC Voter Registration Cross Referencing System.  Why?  Conspiracy Theories.   Today’s Links Articles & Resources: PolitiFact - Arizona’s Mark Finchem falsely links George Soros to voter roll program Votebeat Arizona - The truth about ERIC, the voter roll program targeted by extremists Insider - An Alabama 'election denier' is leading efforts in the state to withdraw fr...

Minnesota Returns Voting Rights to as Many as 55,000 Formerly Incarcerated Felons Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Minnesota Public Radio - Voting rights restored to 50,000 under new Minnesota law CNN - Minnesota governor signs bill expanding voting rights for ex-felons Minnesota Senate - SF 26 Restore the Vote bill language National Conference of State Legislatures - Felon Voting Rights Re...

DISCLOSE Act Reintroduced in the U.S. House & Senate to Shine a Light on Dark Money Today’s Links Articles & Resources: U.S. Congress -  DISCLOSE Act - 2022 version Open Secrets - (2022)  With Deadlocked Vote on Dark Money, DISCLOSE Act Fails to Clear Senate Open Secrets - ‘Dark money’ groups aligned with party leadership steer hundreds of millions of dollars into 2022 federal elections Co...

Development in the Blockbuster Moore v. Harper Independent State Legislature Case Could Signal Its End Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Scotus Blog - Justices order new briefing in Moore v. Harper as N.C. court prepares to rehear underlying dispute Carolina Journal - US Supreme Court seeks information about impact of NC redistricting rehearing Democracy Docket - U.S. Supreme Court Requests...

Pro-Voter/Anti-Voter Tug-of-War in Michigan, New Mexico, Idaho, Georgia, Colorado & Maryland  Today’s Links Articles & Resources: WKAR Lansing - Election safety bills set for a Tuesday hearing KRQE - Bill to expand voter access in New Mexico heads across Roundhouse Associated Press - Residency fights could snare many Georgia voters under bill Idaho Capital Sun - Idaho Senate OKs proposed c...

More Chaos in Cochise County, Arizona as Supervisors Propose Election Denier for Election Oversight Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Votebeat Arizona - Cochise County gives election skeptic recorder near full control of elections Votebeat Arizona - How an Arizona official is making Cochise County a “laboratory” for election skepticism Democracy Docket - Cochise County, Arizona Transfers Ele...

Wyoming Legislature Restricts Change of Affiliation Rules, Making 'Cross-Over' Voting Harder Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Casper Star Tribune - Crossover voting could soon come to an end in Wyoming as ban bill clears Senate Wyoming Legislature - HB0103 - Political party affiliation declaration and changes Wyoming Secretary of State - Wyoming Party Affiliation Statistics Cowboy State Dai...

Utah Has Little Voter Fraud.  But the Legislature Wants to Eliminate No Excuse Absentee & Add ID Restrictions Anyway Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Ada County Prosecuting Attorney - Boise man sentenced for illegal voting, illegal registration by a voter Idaho Press - Proposed legislation would prohibit use of student IDs at Idaho voting polls Idaho Secretary of State - Idaho Declares...

SCOTUS Takes Another Chop at the 1965 Voting Rights Act by Refusing Mississippi Case Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Democracy Docket - Mississippi Congressional Redistricting Challenge Buck v. Reeves Mississippi Free Press - Mississippi Racial Gerrymandering Case Dismissed in U.S. Supreme Court Brennan Center for Justice - Shelby County v. Holder USA Facts - Changes in Mississippi's Popul...

Democracy News Updates from New Hampshire, Wisconsin & North Carolina Today’s Links Articles & Resources: New Hampshire House/Legiscan - HB 324 Voter-Owned Elections Open Democracy Action - One Pager on Small Donor, Voter-Owned Elections PBS Wisconsin/AP - Protasiewicz, Kelly advance in 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court primary Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Janet Protasiewicz, Daniel Kelly advan...

Florida Group Leading Effort to Restore Voting Rights to Formerly-Incarcerated Felons is Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Orlando Sentinel - Orlando group behind restoring felon voting rights nominated for Nobel Peace Prize BallotPedia - Florida Amendment 4, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative (2018) Florida Dept. of Elections - Constitutional Ame...

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Has Huge State & National Implications Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Milwaukee Journal Seninel - It's primary election day in Wisconsin. What to know about the 2023 Supreme Court race and the expected voter turnout. Wisconsin PBS - Wisconsin's 2023 Supreme Court candidates and Brian Hagedorn Wisconsin PBS - Wisconsin's Assembly maps are more skewed th...

Cities & Counties Also Get Gerrymandered; California Citizens are Fighting Back Today’s Links Articles & Resources: CalMatters - Who draws the lines? A big push for independent local redistricting PBS - California attorney general to investigate LA redistricting after councilmembers’ racist remarks California General Assembly - AB 1248 Local redistricting: independent redistricting commiss...

Despite Little Intentional Illegal Voting, FL Gov. DeSantis Escalates Election Law Cases to Statewide Prosecutors Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Democracy Docket - Florida Bill Expanding Election Crimes Oversight Heads to Governor Florida Senate - SB 4B (Enrolled Version) Brennan Center - Governor DeSantis Signs Election Crimes Law Expanding Statewide Prosecutor’s Power to Target People w...

Ohio's Ongoing Fight for Fair Redistricting Maps Before 2024 Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Bolts Magazine - In Ohio’s Redistricting Redo, a New Justice and a New Speaker Will Steer the Ship Ohio Capital Journal - Discussions underway to propose new redistricting reform to Ohio voters Ohio Capital Journal - Big Ohio redistricting changes before 2024? Don’t count on it, experts say BallotP...

The Texas Legislature's Zeal for Election Integrity Could Cost Money.  BIG Money. Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Votebeat Texas - Overlooked provision of SB 1 requires election equipment that doesn’t exist, at a cost of $116 million Texas Secretary of State - SOS 101: Voting Systems in Texas Texas Association of Counties - State law requires new voting machines (this refers to machines wh...

Five States Have "Election Integrity Units." Do the Results Justify the Cost? Today’s Links Articles & Resources: PBS - State GOP-backed ‘election integrity’ units find few voter fraud cases after midterms Associated Press - Ohio elections chief announces new public integrity unit OH SOS Office -  Election Integrity Division web pag e News 5 Cleveland - Ohio Secretary of State creates Public I...

NH's "Voter-Owned Elections" Public Funding  Proposal Goes to a Vote Feb. 14 Today’s Links Articles & Resources: NH House -  HB 324 Voter-Owned Election bill language Open Democracy Action - One pager on Voter-Owned Elections Pew Trust - ‘Democracy Vouchers’ Put Free Campaign Cash in the Hands of Voters National Conference of State Legislatures - Public Financing of Campaigns: Overview Brennan...

National Task force on Election Crises Releases Report & Recommendations to Shore Up Democracy Prior to 2024 Today’s Links Articles & Resources: National Task Force on Election Crises - Full Report & Recommendations - Lessons from the 2022 General Election: How to Prevent Election Crises, and Emerging Issues for 2023, 2024, and Beyond National Task Force on Election Crises - Website, R...

A Divided Pennsylvania General Assembly Means Challenges in Improving Mail-In Voting Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Spotlight PA - Advocates, lawmakers hope Pa. House power shift opens door for election law changes Democracy Docket - Pennsylvania Republicans Introduce Proof of ID to Vote Amendment Democracy Docket - Pennsylvania Undated and Wrongly Dated Mail-in Ballots Challenge (PA NAAC...

Update on Pennsylvania's Rejection of Thousands of Undated November Ballots Today’s Links Articles & Resources: Democracy Docket - Pennsylvania Senate Primary Undated Ballots Challenge Spotlight PA - Why are undated mail ballots such a big deal in Pennsylvania? ADM - Undated Mail-In Ballots Case Impacts PA U.S. Senate Race ADM - SCOTUS Allows Undated Ballots, but Dissent Shows Some Justices Un...