The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 31, 2023

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

Today’s Links now below the script

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

Ohioans are mobilizing against Issue 1, an effort by the anti-voter state legislature raising the bar to pass a citizen ballot initiative to 60%.   The legislature’s proposed constitutional amendment comes up for a vote on August 8th. 

From our past reports, you know that Ohio is one of several states rushing to raise the threshold to pass a ballot initiative from a simple 50%+1 majority to 60% or more, and to make the qualifying signature rules more difficult.  Ohio’s current rules have been in place since 1912.

Why the rush?  Successful 2022 ballot initiatives in Kansas and Michigan enshrined reproductive rights and protected voting, and signatures are already being collected in Ohio for a reproductive rights ballot initiative this November.  Earlier this month, Ohio Republicans resurrected a special election in August, removed just last year because of low turnout and its $20 million dollar price tag. 

Democracy groups are challenging the proposed language of Issue 1 in court, which, because the proposal hasn’t yet passed, requires only a 50%+1 majority.  The conservative Ohio Supreme Court isn’t likely to change Issue 1’s language.  So, pro-democracy coalitions and reproductive rights groups are doing it the old fashioned way:  Mobilizing voters to show up for the summertime special election and vote down the assault on the power of the voters.

Dive deeper into the fight to protect citizen ballot initiative rules for Ohio and other states at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

NPR – Ohio election officials scramble ahead of August vote on state constitution changes
The Guardian – ‘It destroys democracy’: Republicans bid to rewrite Ohio’s abortion rules
Ohio Capital Journal – Ohioans vote on Issue 1 on Aug. 8. What does it say?
Ohio Capital Journal – Ohio Ballot Board moves abortion amendment initiative forward
Pew Research Center – Views about abortion among adults in Ohio
Associated Press – Abortion-rights proposal moves a step closer to Ohio ballot
Ohio Citizen Action – One Person = One Vote Campaign
Ohio Capital Journal – Ballot measure making it harder to amend Ohio’s Constitution facing second lawsuit
NBC News – Ohio banned August elections. Then the GOP planned one that could help preserve an abortion ban.

Groups Taking Action:
Ohio Voter Rights Coalition, Ohio Citizen Action, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, All Voting is Local, VoteNoinAugust.org Campaign

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!

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotingRights

The post Ohioans Mobilize for Aug. 8 Special Election to Defeat Assault on Citizen Ballot Initiatives appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for December 30, 2022

Listen!

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Brennan Center for Justice – Americans rejected election denial and adopted reforms. Let’s build on that in 2023
NPR – 2020 changed how America votes. The question now is whether those changes stick
Alaska Bulletin – Five takeaway lessons from Alaska’s first ranked choice election
Roll Call – At the Races: What pushing for voting rights accomplished
City & State NY – What you need to know about New York’s new statewide public campaign finance program

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.

While many states implemented intentional barriers to voting and ignored partisan gerrymandering, some forward-looking states enacted pro-voter democracy reforms, helping to make voting accessible to all of their citizens.

On the federal front, while the Freedom to Vote and For the People acts failed in the U.S. Senate, the Electoral Count Reform Act passed, helping to prevent another election subversion.  

Approving ballot questions, Connecticut and Michigan added more in-person early voting in 2022.   Georgia begrudgingly allowed early voting for the U.S. Senate runoff election, after democracy advocacy groups filed suit.  And despite the Georgia legislature’s anti-voter SB 202 implementation, advocacy groups mobilized record turnout. 

Massachusetts formalized on-demand mail-in voting, where voters can request electronically to be added to an ongoing vote-by-mail list.  Nevada implemented a permanent mail-in voting program in 2022, and took its first step toward single ballot open primaries and ranked choice voting.   Alaska debuted its “top four” open primary and ranked choice voting system in June for a special election, and 85% of voters thought it was simple to use.

Just after the November midterm, New York State implemented a small-donor campaign financing system, where candidates can earn matching funds by seeking out smaller contributions, reducing influence and enabling less affluent candidates to run.  And Arizona banned dark money in state elections.

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

The post Among Growing Anti-Voter Legislation, There Were Some Democracy Reform Successes in 2022 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.