The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 12, 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.

While new messaging from the Republican National Committee and former President Donald Trump encourages turnout by early, absentee or mail-in voting,  GOP lawyers in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mississippi, and Oregon are simultaneously challenging the rules and legitimacy of mail-in voting. 

Following years claiming widespread mail-in voter fraud, Donald Trump implored his followers June 4th to “Swamp the Vote.”  QUOTE, “Whether you vote early, absentee, by mail, or in person, we must swamp the radical Democrats with massive turnout.

May 20th, a U.S. Supreme Court challenge by GOP candidates to Oregon’s statewide mail-in voting failed when the high court refused the case.  June 5th, appeals were heard after Delaware laws permitting a permanent absentee voter list and early voting were struck down in a case brought by the state GOP chair.  In Nevada, Pennsylvania and Mississippi, the GOP is challenging whether ballots with no postmark or date, or arriving after election day, can be counted. 

Drop boxes also continue to be an issue.  The Wisconsin Supreme Court appears poised to restore drop boxes, after a previous conservative court banned them.  But Wyoming’s secretary of state recently urged county election officials to stop using them, while citing no evidence of misuse. 

An attorney in Oregon’s case told the Oregon Capital Chronicle, “Vote by mail is an abomination, and we will fight it every possible way we can.”  Find more reporting linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
CNN – (2020)  Fact check: Trump lies about voter fraud while states, CDC encourage voting-by-mail as pandemic-friendly option
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

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

RNC – RNC Introduces the “Swamp the Vote USA” Campaign
Donald Trump – Swamp the Vote Video
Washington Examiner – Trump does 180 on mail-in voting with plans to ‘swamp’ the vote
CNN – GOP leaders pursue new lawsuits over 2024 election rules – including attacking methods of voting they want supporters to use
Associated Press – A crush of lawsuits over voting in multiple states is creating a shadow war for the 2024 election
Oregon Capital Chronicle – U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear Oregon lawsuit that sought to end mail voting
Delaware Public Media – Delaware Supreme Court hears arguments on permanent absentee, early voting laws
Wyofile – Gray urges Wyoming to ditch ballot drop boxes; clerks say they’re safe, legal
NPR – Republicans say mail ballots arriving after Election Day in Nevada should be illegal
Democracy Docket – New Republican Lawsuit Challenges Mississippi’s Mail-in Ballot Receipt Deadline

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotebyMail #SwamptheVote #VoteatHome #OregonNews #WyomingNews #NevadaNews #DelawareNews #PennsylvaniaNews #MississippiNews

The post More Mixed Messages from Trump and the RNC on Mail-In Voting:  ‘Swamp the Vote” vs. Swamp the Courts 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

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#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 Feb. 27, 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 yesterday that GOP state efforts in Florida to discourage voting by mail could also suppress Republican voters otherwise unable to get to the polls.  Afraid of losing votes nationally, the Republican National Committee launched its 2024 Bank Your Vote campaign, promoting early voting, including by mail.

The RNC’s Bank the Vote website says, QUOTE, “Because of the efforts to Protect Your Vote in 2022, grassroots Republicans like you should feel comfortable Banking Your Vote in 2024. ” It continues, “In all 56 states and territories, your Republican Party will be working hard to get our voters to vote by mail or early in-person, and ballot harvest where permitted.” 

Reuters reported Feb. 23rd that Pennsylvania’s Republican leadership is even raising money for advertising and a canvassing campaign to promote mail-in voting. 

But behind the scenes in swing states, GOP lawyers are targeting mail-in voters, now more heavily Democratic.   States News cites lawsuits in Pennsylvania trying to invalidate ballots with incorrect dates, in Georgia to restrict absentee ballot application deadlines, and in North Carolina, requiring arrival of mail ballots by election day.  

Adding to the split personality is former President Donald Trump, saying after winning Iowa, “We have to get rid of mail-in ballots because once you have mail-in ballots, you have crooked elections.”  

For more on the weaving of this tangled web, visit AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Pew Research – Bipartisan Support for Early In-Person Voting, Voter ID, Election Day National Holiday
NPR – The RNC wants Republicans to embrace early voting. Trump’s rhetoric makes it tough
States News – GOP backs voting by mail, yet turns to courts to restrict it in battleground states
Reuters – Pennsylvania Republicans clash with Trump on mail-in voting
Republican National Committee – Bank Your Vote Website
Democracy Docket – The RNC’s Bank Your Vote Campaign Is a Hypocritical Empty Promise

USA Today – (Opinion) – Trump keeps lying about 2020 mail ballots. It could hurt Republicans in November

Groups Taking Action:
National Vote at Home Institute,  Brennan Center for Justice, League of Women Voters, Common Cause, Voto Latino

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotebyMail #AbsenteeVoting #VoteatHome #BankYourVote

The post The RNC Weaves a Tangled Web, Pushing Early & Mail-In Voting to Its Base, While Litigating and Legislating to Limit It In Swing States appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 26, 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.

One of the conspiracy theories trumpeted after the 2020 elections was that voting by mail leads to widespread voter fraud.  None of it was true.  But, the GOP attack on mail-in voting risks suppressing some Republican voters, too.

In a national Pew Research survey, just 28% of GOP voters now say ANY voter should be allowed to vote by mail.  Four years ago, 49% of Republicans supported it.  In battleground states like Florida, the fifth oldest state in the country, the GOP’s smearing of mail-in voting could suppress some voters unable to get to the polls.  

In the 2022 midterms, mail ballots were cast in Florida by over 1 Million Republicans, 1.2 Million Democrats, and over 500,000 Independents.  A November 2023 Tyson Group survey found that 76% of Florida voters had confidence in voting by mail, and a majority supported an automatic mail-ballot delivery list and secure drop boxes.  

This, despite Florida’s 2023 law canceling mail-in ballot requests for hundreds of thousands of voters last year, forcing them to reapply.  Another bill filed in January would return Florida to an absentee system with limited excuses.

The RNC, afraid it will lose votes, relaunched its 2024 “Bank Your Vote” campaign last week, encouraging Republicans to vote early by mail or in person.  We’ll have more on this tomorrow. 

We’ve linked the research at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Florida Div. of Elections –  Early Voting and Vote-by-Mail Ballot Request Reports
Florida Supervisors of Elections – Vote-by-Mail Ballots
The Guardian – (2023)Voters’ mail-in ballot requests cancelled as Florida passes new voting restrictions
Tyson Group – Survey of Florida Voters on Democracy Questions

Florida Phoenix – (2023) States that send a mail ballot to every voter really do increase turnout, scholars find
6 News Orlando – ‘It would be a complete disaster:’ Florida bill would end no-excuse needed mail-in voting
Associated Press – Republicans set to push mail ballots, voting methods they previously blasted as recipes for fraud
Republican National Committee – 2024 Bank Your Vote Campaign

Groups Taking Action:
National Vote at Home Institute, League of Women Voters FL,  Disability Rights Florida,  Florida Alliance for Retired Americans

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter 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 #FloridaPolitics #VoteatHome  #VotebyMail 

The post A Majority of Americans Like Voting by Mail – Including Many Florida Republicans.  Making it Harder May Keep Them From Voting, Too. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.