American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast

Redistricting Week: Who Does the Redistricting, and How Can We Encourage Fair Maps and Curb Gerrymandering?

August 6, 2025August 6, 2025

We’ve been explaining the basics of fair redistricting and unfair gerrymandering this week. Who does the redistricting, and how can that encourage fair maps and curb partisan and racial gerrymandering?

Redistricting Week: 60 Years After The Voting Rights Act, Racial Gerrymandering Persists, Driven by State Legislatures Trying to Retain Power

August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

You may think racial gerrymandering happened long ago and just in southern states with legacies of suppressing of African Americans. Think again. Anti-voter legislatures around the country still employ racial gerrymandering to retain political power.

Redistricting Week – The Cheating Side of Redistricting: How Gerrymandering’s Packing, Cracking, and Diluting Voting Districts Rigs Our Electoral System

August 4, 2025August 4, 2025

We’re exploring redistricting this week, including its cheating side. By manipulating which voters are in a voting district, the party in power can rig the system to guarantee a win for that party. Ronald Reagan called it “. . . the antidemocratic and un-American practice of gerrymandering . . “

Redistricting Week: Why Do We Redistrict Our Voting District Maps Every 10 Years, and How is it Done?

August 3, 2025August 3, 2025

We’re spending this week going back to the basics of redistricting, including what makes a fair voting map, and what qualifies as gerrymandering. What is redistricting, why is it necessary?

Americans Like Voting Early, and Other Lessons from the 2024 Election U.S. Election Assistance Commission Follow Up Report

July 31, 2025July 31, 2025

Americans really like voting by mail and in-person early voting. That according to 2024 statistics from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Among the 158 million voters, 52.8 million voted in person on election day. But far more Americans voted early, with 46.8 million voting early by mail, and almost 48.9 million voting early in person.