American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast

Redistricting Updates: CA GOP Appeals Prop 50 Maps to SCOTUS, VA Dems Push Constitutional Amendment, NH’s Bill Doomed, MD Stalemated

January 20, 2026January 21, 2026

We have mid-decade congressional redistricting updates today from California, Virginia, New Hampshire and Maryland. The GOP appealed California’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Federal Circuit Courts Block Trump DOJ from Obtaining California and Oregon Voter Data

January 19, 2026January 19, 2026

We have an update on the Trump Department of Justice efforts to force states to turn over voter and personal information for inclusion in its SAVE database. Federal district judges in California and Oregon blocked DOJ’s actions, finding neither federal nor state law compelled the states to do so.

With SCOTUS Appearing Ready to Strike Down More of the Voting Rights Act in 2026, MLK’s 1957 ‘Give Us the Ballot’ Speech is Still Relevant

January 17, 2026January 19, 2026

Years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke on the Brown vs. Board of Education decision during the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial, May 17th, 1957. As the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to strike down more of the VRA in 2026, his words are still relevant today.

Federal Panel Allows California’s Gerrymandered Counterpunch to Five More GOP Congressional Seats in Texas. Will a Politicized SCOTUS Block It?

January 15, 2026January 15, 2026

January 14th, a 9th Circuit federal court panel rejected a GOP claim that California’s new congressional districts were racially gerrymandered. The court said the Proposition 50 maps, created as a counterpunch to gerrymandering in Texas, were manipulated for partisan, not racial reasons.

New Hampshire Legislators Make Yet Another Attempt at Keeping Students from Voting, Further Tightening Voter ID Regulations

January 14, 2026January 14, 2026

New Hampshire legislators are making another attempt to end the use of student IDs as voter identification, claiming such IDs were prone to fraud and advancing a bill to further narrow acceptable options. Such fraud is almost non-existent, and pro-voter groups say it’s partisan voter suppression.