The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Sept. 25, 2025

The striking down of an 1877 Jim Crow-era law making it a crime for citizens convicted of a felony to vote when their rights had not yet been restored was affirmed by a federal appeals court Sept. 12th.  Judges asked why the North Carolina legislature had not already repealed the law. 

Current North Carolina statute automatically restores rights to citizens returning from a felony sentence, IF they’ve completed any aspect of their jail time, any period of probation, post-release supervision, parole, and in some cases, payment of court debt, according to the North Carolina Board of Elections. 

The 1877 law, however, is still on the books. If a returning citizen doesn’t understand those rules, and mistakenly votes, that citizen could end up back in jail.  A lower court struck down the law as unconstitutional in 2024, but inexplicably, the state appealed the case. 

The discriminatory use of that law was at issue in the trial. Evidence showed that between 2015 and 2022, approximately 63% of the people who were investigated for voting offences were Black, yet North Carolina’s population is only 21 percent African American.

While other voting statutes have been updated, and the state claims it no longer prosecutes people under the law, judges questioned why such a law with discriminatory intent was never repealed.  Indeed.  

We’ve linked to more on the case at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Courthouse News Service – (2024) North Carolina advocates praise progress as judge finds prosecuting felon voters unconstitutional
U.S. District Court for Middle District of NC (Via Courthouse News Service) – Ruling in A. Philip Randolph Institute v. NC Board of Elections
North Carolina Newsline – (May) Federal appeals court panel grills attorneys for North Carolina over felon voting statute
Courthouse News Service – Fourth Circuit finds North Carolina’s felon voter law unconstitutional
Southern Coalition for Social Justice – Federal Appeals Court Affirms: NC Cannot Prosecute Voters Under Racist Law
4th Circuit Court of Appeals (via SCSJ) – Opinion in A. Philip Randolph Institute v. NC Board of Elections  

Groups Taking Action:

 NC A. PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE, Action North Carolina, Restoration of Rights Project

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RightsRestoration #NorthCarolina #ReturningFelons #FreedomtoVote #VoterSuppression

The post Appeals Court Affirms North Carolina’s Jim Crow-Era Returning Felon Voting Law is Unconstitutional, and Questions Why It Wasn’t Repealed appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 14, 2025

Governor Jared Polis signed the Colorado Voting Rights Act on May 12th, another state to take action in the face of ongoing erosion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.  The Act forbids discrimination in voting practices, protects registration and voting for Native voters, and curbs racial gerrymandering, among several provisions.

Colorado’s VRA is the ninth in the U.S., and 2025 legislation is pending in Alabama, Arizona and Maryland.  Attacks on the federal VRA by the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court have added urgency to state protections against voter suppression, dilution of voting power through gerrymandering, and blocking an individual’s ability to challenge voting laws.

The Colorado provision guarantees access for Native voters, who have been subject to voter suppression for decades in some western states. It also protects access for Hispanic, Black and disabled voters, and expands multi-lingual ballot access. It protects LGBTQ voters from registration and voting discrimination, and forbids additional barriers to voting for eligible incarcerated citizens.  

At the bill signing, Colorado Newsline quoted the sponsor, State Senator Julie Gonzales:  “We are taking action here today to ensure that every Coloradan can cast a ballot free from discrimination and free from fear.”

We’ve linked to the details of the bill at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Colorado Legislature – Senate Bill 25-1 – The Colorado Voting Rights Act
National Conference of State Legislatures – Legislatures Pursue State-Level Voting Rights Acts
Colorado Public Radio – Colorado lawmakers approve voting rights bill, despite pushback from local officials
Colorado Newsline – Gov. Polis signs voting rights bill, shielding Colorado from federal backsliding

Movement Advancement Project – Democracy 101: Understanding State Voting Rights Acts

Groups Taking Action:

NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Common Cause CO, Campaign Legal Center, League of Women Voters

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #COVRA #Colorado #VotingRightsAct #StateVRA

The post Governor Signs Colorado Voting Rights Act in Effort to Guarantee Access and Voting Power for Native, Hispanic, Black and LGBTQ Voters appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 7, 2025

Returning Tennessee citizens convicted of most felonies can now have their voting rights returned by a court order, rather than a pardon from the governor, under a law enacted May 2nd.  It also removed the requirement that all fees be paid prior to those rights being restored.

According to The Sentencing Project, Tennessee follows only Florida and Texas in the percent of its citizens denied the right to vote.  Over 300,000 Tennesseans  who have completed their sentences cannot vote due to a past felony conviction – 6% of otherwise eligible voters.  May 2nd, Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 407, allowing courts to issue an order that a formerly-incarcerated citizen convicted of a common felony qualifies to have “citizenship rights” restored.  

Unlike other states’ reforms, however, Tennessee will still require a pardon to restore rights to those convicted of so-called “infamous” felonies, including murder, rape, treason, voter fraud, certain felonies involving bribery, misconduct by public officials, and  sexual offenses where the victim was a minor.  

SB 407 also removes the stipulation that any outstanding fees be paid before voting rights are restored, wielded as a voter suppression tactic by Florida and other states.  Mississippi’s legislature, which considered rights restoration legislation earlier this year, again defeated all of  its proposed bills.

We have more on the specifics of Tennessee’s new rights restoration law and state-by-state rules at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Tennessee Lookout – (2023)  Restoring voting rights after a felony is rare in Tennessee. This year, the process got harder.
Tennessee Secretary of State – Restoration of Voting Rights
The Sentencing Project – Tennessee Should Restore Voting Rights to Nearly 400,000 Citizens
Tennessee Legislature –  Bill text for Senate Bill 407
The Sentencing Project – Locked Out 2024: Four Million Denied Voting Rights Due to a Felony Conviction
National Conference of State Legislatures – Restoration of Voting Rights for Felons

Groups Taking Action:

The Sentencing Project, Campaign Legal Center, The Equity Alliance, ACLU TN 

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Disenfranchisement  #ReturningCitizens #FelonyConvictions

The post Tennessee Enacts Voting Rights Restoration for Citizens Returning from Incarceration for Common Felonies appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 9, 2025

Democracy advocates fear that the recent Louisiana case heard in the U.S. Supreme Court could further erode the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  The Colorado Senate just passes a state VRA to ensure that all of its citizens have access to registration and voting. 

The Colorado Senate advanced SB 1 March 28th, prohibiting voter suppression for any group based on race, color, or language, and keeps voting jurisdictions from diluting voting power of concentrations of minority citizens through redistricting or other means.  

The act strengthens voter registration protections for Native American voters, and makes sure polling places, election notices and ballots are accessible to disabled voters.  

It specifically allows alternatives to in-person voting for primaries, and provides for multilingual ballots and election materials for communities with concentrations of minority language speakers.  It also expands notices of elections at government offices beyond just election offices, and prohibits barriers to voting for eligible incarcerated citizens.

Alabama, Arizona, and Maryland are also considering state VRAs in 2025.  If Colorado passes SB 1, it would join California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington which recently passed VRA statutes

The bill now goes to the Colorado House.   

We’ve linked to local reporting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Colorado Senate – SB25-001 Colorado Voting Rights Act
Colorado Newsline – Colorado Senate gives preliminary approval to Voting Rights Act, which mirrors federal law
National Conference of State Legislatures – State Voting Rights Acts
National Conference of State Legislatures – Legislatures Pursue State-Level Voting Rights Acts
Campaign Legal Center – Protecting the Freedom to Vote Through State Voting Rights Acts 

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU CO, League of Women Voters CO, Common Cause CO, New Era Colorado Action Fund

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Colorado #VotingRightsAct #SB1 

The post Colorado Senate Advances State Voting Rights Act, As Federal VRA is Under Threat by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Conservative Majority appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 26, 2025

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

In the coming weeks, Virginia GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin considers multiple pro-voter bills sent to his desk by a Democratic-majority legislature.  A state constitutional amendment also moves to the November ballot which restores voting rights to returning citizens after felony convictions.

Almost a dozen pro-voter bills have advanced in January and February, most recently protecting voters from premature purges.  Last August, Younkin ordered voter registration purges within 90 days of the election, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court just two weeks before the election.

In response, the Virginia legislature passed House bills 2002 and 2276, prohibiting the purging of a voter using unverified external data as justification, and establishing specific criteria for removal.   SB 813 specifically prohibits voter list purges within 90 days of the election.  

After blocking GOP attempts to shorten early voting in primaries from 45 days to 14 days, the legislature passed SB 760, extending deadlines for returning mail-in ballots to three days after election day and allowing curing of deficient ballots, and passed SB 991, giving more time to voters to register before election day.

In 2023, Governor Youngkin reversed policies of recent governors, and restores voting rights to citizens who’ve completed felony sentences only on a case-by-case basis.   House Resolution 2, now passed in both houses, would  automatically restore those rights, and will appear on the November 2025 ballot.  

Find links to the bills at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – U.S. Supreme Court Allows Virginia to Purge of Alleged Non Citizen Voters Only Days Before the Election, Ignoring Established Federal Law. Eligible Voters Were on the List, Too.
Virginia Mercury – Senate moves to strengthen protections against voter roll purges
Virginia Mercury – Historic push for constitutional protections in Virginia gains momentum

Virginia Legislature – HB 2002, HB 2276, SB 813, SB 760, SB 991, HR 2

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU Virginia,  Virginia Election Protection, UpVote VA, 

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Virginia #RightsRestoration #VotingRights #DemocracyReform

The post VA Legislature Sends Several Pro-Voter Bills to Gov. Youngkin, and a Constitutional Amendment Restoring Returning Citizen Rights to Voters appeared first on American Democracy Minute.