The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 28, 2024

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.

The ink wasn’t yet dry on the Indian Citizens Act of 1924 when voter suppression of Native Americans began.  Natives have been fighting for their right to register and vote, proper representation, and fair voting districts ever since.

The Brennan Center for Justice writes that for decades, Arizona disenfranchised Native citizens because they were, QUOTE, “Persons under guardianship.”  New Mexico’s constitution stipulated that people who didn’t pay taxes, including Natives on reservations, could not vote.  

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited these suppression tactics.  But the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby decision opened a floodgate of new Native suppression in Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nevada and other states.

Recently, proof of citizenship and voter ID laws have targeted Natives, some of whom don’t have an ID, or live in remote areas without street numbers.  Counties have used “at-large” voting districts to dilute Native voting power, or removed drop boxes or polling places, forcing voters to drive sometimes more than a hundred miles to vote.  

What can be done?  The federal Native American Voting Rights Act is stuck in Congress, but New Mexico passed its own version in 2023.  The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restores protections stripped from the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act would expand voting access for ALL Americans.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Native American Rights Fund – (2020) Obstacles at Every Turn
Brennan Center for Justice – How Voter Suppression Laws Target Native Americans
NPR – Sometimes overlooked by campaigns, Native voters could decide major elections in 2024

Split Ticket – The Largest Native American Voting Blocs
Intermountain Histories – Trujillo v. Garley: The Struggle for Native American Voting Rights
The White House – (2022) REPORT OF THE INTERAGENCY STEERING GROUP ON NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren – Native American Voting Rights Act
U.S. Congress – John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Groups Taking Action:

Native American Rights Fund, Native Vote, National Congress of American Indians, Declaration for American Democracy

Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #NativeVote #VoterSuppression #JohnLewisAct #FreedomtoVoteAct

The post Voter Suppression of Native Americans is on the Rise.  Three Pieces of Pending Legislation Could End It. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 15, 2024

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.

We reported last month that the Republican National Committee unveiled its 2024 “Bank the Vote” campaign to encourage Republicans to vote early and by mail to mobilize elderly and disabled GOP voters.    Well, never mind.   

After firing 60 RNC staffers last week, Donald Trump’s hand-picked leadership will reportedly drop the Bank the Vote program, according to the Washington Post.  The RNC will instead create an “election integrity” unit headed by no less than notable election denier Christina Bobb, a former OAN host, Dominion Voting Systems defendant, and Trump lawyer embroiled in his classified documents case.

A new RNC lawsuit was filed in Michigan Wednesday, and suits were filed in Mississippi and Arizona earlier this year.   The RNC’s Michigan complaint argues, “Voter fraud is very real in Michigan. Several recent elections have suffered

from voter fraud.”   Since 2006, there have been only 16 voter fraud convictions among 34.9 million Michigan ballots cast, according to the conservative Heritage Foundation.  

Democracy Docket counts 23 active lawsuits in which the RNC is engaged, including mail-in voting, voter ID requirements, voter registration rules and other anti-voter challenges.  Not surprisingly, the majority of those suits are in battleground states like Michigan.

Three real voter fraud cases in Michigan, involving a 2020 ballot tabulation machine tampering scheme by Trump supporters, come to trial soon.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – The RNC Weaves a Tangled Web, Pushing Early & Mail-In Voting to Its Base, While Litigating and Legislating to Limit It In Swing States
Washington Post – (likely paywall) Trump takes control of the RNC with mass layoffs, restructuring
CNN – RNC to add new lawyers focusing on claims of election fraud – including one key figure from 2020 challenges
Democracy Docket – On the Heels of Recent Shakeup, RNC Files Lawsuit in Michigan Seeking to Purge Voters
Democracy Docket – Michigan Voter Purge (RNC)
Heritage Foundation – 16 Cases of Voter Fraud Since 2006
Michigan Secretary of State – Statistics on Michigan Voter Turnout

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter 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 #BankYourVote #RNC #ElectionDeniers #VoterSuppression #VotebyMail

The post Never Mind . . . After Trump Shake-Up at RNC, “Bank Your Vote” Mail-In Voting Campaign Dropped, “Election Integrity” Unit Created Instead appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for January 4, 2023

Listen!

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

BallotPedia – 2022 ballot measures
Michigan House –  Promote the Vote Initiative
Business Insider – Results: Nevadans approve Question 3 to add ranked choice general and top-five primaries to the state’s elections
Connecticut Insider – Connecticut residents approve early voting ballot question
Arizona Public Media – After overwhelming voter OK, political ‘dark money’ law hailed as model
BallotPedia – Arizona 2022 ballot measures
Brennan Center – Voter Access Ballot Initiatives in 2022

Groups Taking Action:

Bolder Advocacy – Ballot Measures Toolkit
Movement Advancement Project – DIRECT CITIZEN INITIATIVE STATES

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

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

This week, we’re making predictions on what state democracy legislation we’ll see in 2023.  Last year, some of the most significant state democracy reforms came from citizen ballot initiatives – so we predict you’ll see anti-voter legislatures attempt to make restrictions to the citizen ballot initiative process.

On Nov. 8th, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Connecticut passed pro-democracy ballot measures.  Michigan voters approved no-excuse mail-in  and early in-person voting, and provided for absentee ballot drop boxes, among other reforms.  Arizona voters now require disclosure of Dark Money contributors in state elections.  New Mexico voters took the first step toward using single ballot open primaries and ranked choice voting. 

But on Arizona’s ballot were three ballot measures proposed by its legislature attempting to curb the power of the ballot measure process itself.    One proposed raising the threshold for passage to 60% for any measure expending taxes.  Another would have allowed the legislature to change any ballot measure approved by the voters but ruled unconstitutional by the state supreme court.  Voters were having none of it, and defeated both of these measures.

Because ballot measure Democracy reforms have successfully bypassed obstinate, partisan legislators, we predict more anti-voter legislatures will  propose restrictions on ballot initiatives in 2023.

We have articles and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  

I’m Brian Beihl.

The post 2023 Anti-Voter Predictions – Citizen Ballot Initiatives Likely Targets of Anti-Voter Legislatures appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 28, 2022

Listen!

10 States Made it Harder to Vote in 2022

Articles & Resources:
Brennan Center for Justice – Voting Laws Roundup: October 2022

Voting Rights Lab- The State of State Election Law Since 2020
Center for Public Integrity – A headlong rush by states to attack voting access — or expand it
The Guardian/Reveal – New US state voting laws present most intense voter suppression threat in decades
PBS – How controversial new voting laws are impacting 2022 elections

Groups Taking Action:
League of Women Voters US,  When We All Vote, Mi Familia Vota, Protect Democracy

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

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

This week, we’re recapping 2022 democracy legislation around the U.S.  In addition to election police, restricting absentee ballots, and curtailing drop boxes, other anti-voter legislation was enacted as well this year. 

The Brennan Center for Justice reports that 10 states made it harder for citizens to vote: Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma and South Carolina.   Seven enacted laws restricting access to voting, including expanding proof of citizenship requirements to register, imposing additional photo ID requirements, limiting Election Day registration, and making it more difficult for individuals without traditional addresses to register to vote. 

Arizona legislators attempted to make it more difficult for Native American voters by implementing citizenship documents for use of a federal election-only ballot, but it was thrown out in federal court.   Oklahoma now requires address verification with a street number, city and postal code  – something many Native and rural citizens don’t have –  prior to sending a voter registration card. 

Georgia & Oklahoma, passed “election interference” laws which take decision making away from state election officials, the secretary of state and/or the governor for unusual situations, such as allowing mail-in ballots during a pandemic. Instead, these laws embrace the “independent state legislature” theory of ultimate control by the legislature.   We’ll discuss the major Democracy court cases for 2022 in our next report.

There’s more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   For the American Democracy Minute.   I’m Brian Beihl.

The post <strong>10 States Made it Harder to Vote in 2022</strong> appeared first on American Democracy Minute.