The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 8, 2025

Breaking: The AP reported after we had posted our story that Judge Griffin conceded May 7th, ending any prospect of appeal.

The November 2024 North Carolina Supreme Court race contested by the Republican candidate Judge Jefferson Griffin has finally been settled in federal district court.  Associate Justice Allison Riggs was declared the winner on May 5th.

It took 180 days, likely hundreds of thousands in legal fees, and multiple state and federal courtrooms to adjudicate Riggs’ 734-vote win, the last unsettled major 2024 race in the country.  Jefferson initially argued that 65,000 voters were ineligible due to voter ID and other registration issues, some of them for years before the election.  Lower courts ordered an examination of 5,000 military and overseas voters, of which a thousand were deficient of ID information, and a handful identified as never having domiciled in North Carolina.  Pro-voter groups argued that those voters followed state rules at the time they registered, and shouldn’t be penalized. 

Trump-appointed U.S. District Court Chief Judge Richard Meyers II said in his finding, “ . . . effectuation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court’s orders would violate the equal protection and substantive due process rights of overseas military and civilian voters. The court further finds that discarding the votes of Never Residents without any process for those who may have been misclassified as ineligible violates procedural due process and represents an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.”   

We’ve linked to the full decision at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.  

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – Partisan Saga of North Carolina’s 2024 Supreme Court Race Now Returns to Federal Court.  5,000 Military & Overseas Ballots at Risk of Invalidation
Courthouse News Service – Judge loses bid for seat on North Carolina Supreme Court bench
U.S. District Court for Eastern NC (via Courthouse News) – Opinion in Griffin v. North Carolina Board of Elections
NC Newsline – Federal judge rules for Riggs in Supreme Court voter case 

Groups Taking Action:

League of Women Voters, Protect Democracy, VoteVets , Democracy North Carolina

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #NorthCarolina #NCSupremeCourt #VoterSuppression #FederalCourt

The post Federal Court Settles North Carolina Supreme Court Race, Heading Off a Dangerous Precedent of Retroactively Questioning Election Rules appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 4, 2025

With a vote on the SAVE Act imminent in the U.S. House, Secretaries of State, pro-voter groups and elections officials are voicing alarm at likely widespread disenfranchisement of eligible voters and an unfunded mandate by Congress.  

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act’s sponsor seeks to keep “foreign nationals” from voting in federal elections – already illegal –  without any evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in any state.  

It will, however, keep eligible Americans from voting.  It mandates proof of citizenship to register or when updating records, but limits that proof to a birth certificate, U.S. Passport, or naturalization papers. Nine percent of Americans don’t have those documents readily available, and because they have to be presented in person, working Americans, seniors and the disabled will all be impacted.  Driver’s licenses, even REAL ID-compliant ones, can’t be used. Even with a birth certificate, 69 million married women changed their name upon marriage, and 146 million Americans don’t own a valid passport, according to the Center for American Progress.

The group Declaration for American Democracy just submitted a letter from over 100 member organizations, citing its impact on rural voters, voters of color, women and victims of natural disasters.  Election officials convened by Issue One cited criminal penalties for errors and the unfunded costs to implement it.   Fourteen secretaries of state and counting now oppose the bill.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Rep. Chip Roy (R) TX – Rep. Roy reintroduces bill to protect the integrity and sanctity of American elections
U.S. Congress – Text of the SAVE Act
National Conference of State Legislatures – 9 Things to Know About the Proposed SAVE Act
Center for American Progress – The SAVE Act: Overview and Facts
WMTW – Secretaries of state call on Congress to vote against the SAVE Act
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison – Opposition to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act 
Election Officials Convened by Issue One – Opposition to the SAVE Act (H.R. 22, S. 128) – Unfunded, Operationally Unrealistic, and Legally Risky for Election Officials

Groups Taking Action:

Declaration for American Democracy, The Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, US Vote Foundation, Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO)

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

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #SAVEAct #Disenfranchised #VoterSuppression #FreedomtoVote

The post Secretaries of State, Pro-Voter Groups and Election Officials Submit Letters Opposing the SAVE Act, Likely to Disenfranchise Millions of Americans in Effort to Block Noncitizens appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 19, 2025

Utah adopted universal mail-in voting in 2013, with no widespread misuse in its 12 years.  March 6th, the GOP-dominated Utah legislature approved an amended bill to end it in 2029, despite 76% of state voters supporting it. 

HB 300 was even more draconian just weeks ago, requiring voters to return  their ballot in person so ID could be shown.  Such a move would have ended the convenience voters like about mail-in voting, and created a burden for rural and Native American voters, who might live hours from a polling place.

The Utah News Dispatch reports the amended bill phases out universal mail-in voting in 2029, rather than immediately.  But in the interim, voters must obtain state-issued voting ID by 2026, and provide four digits from that ID, with signature matching as a backup.  The voting ID would be free only to those proving they can’t afford it.  

In 2029, voters can opt-in to a semi-permanent 8-year vote-by-mail list, and election officials would rely only on the voting ID number for identification.   Voters could opt in at the DMV, polling places, or the state’s voter portal.  The bill also extends the ballot return deadline to 8 pm on election day.

Replacing universal mail-in voting is expected to cost taxpayers $6 million dollars annually.  Gov. Spencer Cox is likely to sign it. 

We have more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Utah News Dispatch – (2024) Deep red Utah wants to keep voting by mail
Utah News Dispatch – Utah Legislature approves bill to require voter ID, phase out automatic voting by mail by 2029
Salt Lake Tribune – Universal vote by mail is popular in Utah. GOP lawmakers continue to move away from it in a revised bill.
Associated Press – Deep-red Utah embraced voting by mail. Then came 2020.
Deseret News – (2024) New poll: Three-quarters of Utah voters confident in vote by mail system
Utah House of Representatives – Fiscal Note – HB 300 

Groups Taking Action:

Rural Utah Project, League of Women Votes UT

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

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Utah #VotebyMail  #HB300

The post Utah Legislature Passes 2029 End to Its Popular Universal Mail-In Voting System, Replacing it With an Opt-In List & More ID appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 22, 2025

Today’s Script

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

We recently reported on presidential orders, including executive orders, and how they’re used.  Executive orders can also be used to revoke previous orders, and among President Donald Trump’s day-one orders was removing a policy of the federal government to promote access to voting.

Trump’s executive order, entitled “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” terminated 78 of President Joe Biden’s orders, including Order 14019 from March 7, 2021, setting a policy for the federal government to promote access to voting.

Biden’s order, as noted on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website, QUOTE “Directed all federal agencies to ‘consider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process.”   This included ensuring equal access for voters with disabilities and non English-speaking Americans.  It ensured voting opportunities for active duty military and overseas citizens, and established a federal ballot tracking system to assist those voters.   

It created a federal working group to protect voting access for Native American voters, and it allowed time off for federal employees to vote and to serve as poll workers.   Importantly, it supported modernization of the Vote.gov website.   Although not included in day-one orders, Trump has also pledged to limit voting to election day only.  

We have more on Trump’s day-one executive orders at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
The White House – INITIAL RESCISSIONS OF HARMFUL EXECUTIVE ORDERS AND ACTIONS, Jan. 20, 2025
Federal Register – (2021)  Executive Order 14019 of March 7, 2021

NPR – (2024) Republicans are turning Biden’s voter registration order into a partisan flash point

VOX – The Trump executive orders that threaten democracy
Washington Post – (Paywall likely) Here are the executive actions and orders Trump signed on Day 1

Groups Taking Action:

Native American Rights Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, League of Women Voters US

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

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ExecutiveOrders #VoterRegistration #NativeVote

The post Executive Orders Can Also Terminate Previous Orders; One of Trump’s Day-1 Orders Ended a Federal Policy to Promote Voting appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 10, 2025

Today’s Script

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

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed automatic voter registration into law in December of 2020, to begin in January of  2023.   Pandemic, technical, and bidding delays ensued, but preparation for voter registration at the DMV and other state agencies has finally begun. 

The New York State Board of Elections approved a resolution in December 2024, authorizing the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles and other state agencies to create voter registration forms and transmit that data to the Board of Elections database.  The new system allows citizens to opt out of voter registration, but will otherwise register or change registration information during official transactions.   

Gotham Gazette reports that both the implementation of automatic voter registration system, or AVR,  and online voter registration, or OVR, were delayed as technical staff was diverted for pandemic-related IT projects. The OVR system went live in June 2023.  

While the delays are frustrating, getting it right is critical.  Early adopter Oregon recently discovered flaws in its very successful AVR  system, with evidence that ineligible citizens and noncitizens were accidentally registered during state transactions. The state is in the process of a system-wide audit.  

Brennan Center for Justice research finds AVR has increased voter registrations from 9 to 94% in jurisdictions around the country.  In addition to more voters, AVR also keeps state voter rolls up to date as voters move or have life changes.  

We have more on AVR at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Brennan Center for Justice – (2020)Governor Cuomo Signs Automatic Voter Registration into Law in New York
Harvard Political Review – An Automatic Solution: Voter Registration and the Oregon Model
Gotham Gazette – (2023) New York Launch of Online and Automatic Voter Registration Delayed Until at Least May
New York State Board of Elections – Approved Resolution RE Automatic Voter Registration with Regulation
National Conference for State Legislatures – States Adopting Automatic Voter Registration

Groups Taking Action:
Declaration for American Democracy,  Common Cause, League of Women Voters US

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 #AVR #MotorVoter #NewYork

The post After 2 Years of Delays, Automatic Voter Registration is Finally Coming to New York appeared first on American Democracy Minute.