U.S. Constitution Archives | Page 3 of 4 | American Democracy Minute

New Trump Executive Order Attempts to Bypass Congress & States to Require Proof of Citizenship Documents & Mandate Election Deadlines

March 27, 2025March 27, 2025

President Donald Trump issued an executive order March 25th implementing portions of the likely doomed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or ‘SAVE’ Act. Among its restrictive provisions are a documentary proof of citizenship to register and vote, potentially disenfranchising millions.

If You Were an Irish Catholic Immigrant in the 1850s, the Xenophobic ‘Know Nothing’ Party Tried to Suppress Your Vote

March 17, 2025March 17, 2025

If you were an Irish Catholic immigrant in the1840s through the 1920s, many of your Protestant fellow Americans, some of whom joined the xenophobic Know Nothing Party, tried to suppress your vote.

Will Louisiana v. Callais Be the Latest Blow Against the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by SCOTUS?

March 11, 2025March 11, 2025

On the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, we’re examining how the landmark protections it moved forward in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are now being dismantled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s far right majority. Louisiana v. Callais may be the next blow.

Would the Founding Fathers Have Embraced Having Unfettered Power for the Presidency? Not Likely.

March 5, 2025March 5, 2025

Anti-authoritarian feelings ran high in the years before and after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, as the Declaration’s litany of complaints against the King suggests. So it’s unlikely the founding fathers would have supported expansion of Presidential powers, and absolute immunity for “official acts.”

Like the FEC, the FCC Could Get Taken Over by Partisan Actors Under Executive Order 14215, Potentially Tilting the Election Playing Field

March 3, 2025March 3, 2025

In our last report, we explained how Executive Order 14215 claims Presidential authority over the FEC and other independent agencies, putting fair elections at risk. Manipulation of the FCC, which sets broadcasting rules for political advertising, could also impact elections.