The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 5, 2026

We have state updates today, both with significant implications for voters.  Ohio replaced its independent election commission with an “election integrity” commission under the control of the Secretary of State.  A Utah judge will allow the legislature to appeal the state’s court-mandated congressional district map, which replaced the legislature’s unconstitutional map last year. 

The Ohio Capital Journal reports that a new commission overseeing elections took control January 1st from the Ohio Elections Commission, after legislators complained it was slow and ineffective.  It was historically bipartisan and independent from the executive branch.  But new may not mean better for voters.   

The just-formed Ohio Election Integrity Commission now reports to Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who in 2024 orchestrated a deceptive rewriting of a ballot initiative to ensure its defeat.   While the previous commission was chosen by a bipartisan panel, the new commission will be chosen by House and Senate leadership, and the chair appointed by the Secretary of State. 

The Utah News Dispatch reports that the state judge who struck down the legislature’s attempts to sidestep constitutional fair redistricting rules has allowed the legislature to appeal replacement fair maps to the Utah Supreme Court.  The state’s high court previously struck down attempts to neutralize the state’s independent redistricting commission.  The case will likely be expedited.

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

Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:

Ohio Capital Journal – New Ohio Election Integrity Commission begins to take shape
Ohio Legislative Service Commission – Ohio Election Integrity Commission

American Democracy Minute – (2024) Polling Shows Ohio Voters Lean Toward Passing Citizen-Led Redistricting Commission Ballot Measure, Despite Disinformation from State Officials
American Democracy Minute – Utah Judge Rejects Legislature’s Gerrymandered Congressional Map, Choosing a Map Which Follows the State Constitution Instead
Utah News Dispatch – Utah redistricting: Judge allows Legislature to appeal one of her rulings to Utah Supreme Court 

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause OH,  League of Women Voters UT, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, Campaign Legal Center

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#News #Democracy #DemocracyNews #Ohio #Utah #FrankLaRose #FairMaps #Gerrymandering #OHSecretaryofState

The post Ohio Election Oversight Becomes More Partisan on Jan. 1; Utah Judge Allows Legislature to Appeal Replacement Fair Congressional Map appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 19, 2025

In 2022, New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu vetoed radically gerrymandered congressional districts, saying the map QUOTE, “Didn’t pass the smell test.”  Current GOP Governor Kelly Ayotte stated she’s not supportive of mid-decade redistricting, but two GOP legislators are proposing a 2026 bill anyway.

With already-gerrymandered state senate, house and executive council districts, New Hampshire’s legislature has been GOP-dominated over the last decade.  Federal seats are a different story.  New Hampshire has only two congressional seats, both held by Democrats, as are both U.S. Senate seats.

After Sununu’s 2022 veto, the New Hampshire Supreme Court later appointed a special master which drew the current maps by only adjusting the previous districts.  

Speaking on WMUR in August, Governor Ayotte said QUOTE, “The timing is off for this because we are literally in the middle of the census period, and when I talk to people in New Hampshire, it’s not at the top of their priority list.”  

State senator Dan Innis, co-sponsor of HB 1300, said in a separate August WMUR interview, that he doesn’t want to gerrymander, but wanted accurate districts in his state. He said he wants to apportion districts, QUOTE, “Where they should be.” Previous maps packed Democrats into Congressional District 2, and manipulated District 1 to lean Republican.   If it passes and Ayotte vetoes the bill, an override is unlikely.  

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

NH Public Radio – (2022) Sununu rejects latest congressional map from GOP lawmakers, leaving N.H.’s districts up to the courts

The Portsmouth Herald – As redistricting battles heat up in other states, Ayotte says no to redistricting in NH
WMUR – Little momentum seen for congressional redistricting in New Hampshire
WMUR – Dan Innis calls for redistricting as he seeks Trump endorsement
New Hampshire General Court – HB 1300 as Introduced by Rep. Ankarberg, Straf. 7; Sen. Innis, Dist 7 

Groups Taking Action:

Open Democracy Action, NH Campaign for Voting Rights, League of Women Voters

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, 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

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Gerrymandering #FairMaps #TrumpGerrymandering

The post Joining the Mid-Decade Gerrymandering Arms Race, Two NH GOP Legislators Propose Bill to Redraw the State’s Congressional Maps in 2026 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 16, 2025

After weeks of bomb threats and “swatting” calls, tenacious Republican Indiana senators bucked pressure from the governor and the White House and joined Democrats to defeat a gerrymandered congressional map. The map would have given the GOP a 9-0 congressional delegation, but the vote wasn’t close.

The final vote was 31-19, with 21 of 40 Republican senators voting to defeat the map.  They have, and continued to be, threatened with being primaried, violence, and hoax “swatting” calls.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun, who called for the gerrymandered maps, condemned the threats, after receiving one himself.  But no effort has been made by the White House to stop the fringe elements making the threats.  Law enforcement is investigating.

Braun joined President Donald Trump, however, in suggesting the defecting GOP senators should lose their seats.   Just before the vote, the Heritage Foundation’s advocacy arm posted, “President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders: if the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state. Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame.”  

Speaking to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, Republican Senator Sue Glick said, “You have to know Hoosiers; we can’t be bullied.” 

We’ve linked to the local reporting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – After the SCOTUS Texas Congressional Gerrymandering Decision, Battles Continue in Missouri, Indiana and Florida
Indiana Capital Chronicle – As threats escalate against Indiana lawmakers, Braun says his family also targeted
Indiana Capital Chronicle – Senate Republicans reject Trump’s plea for gerrymandered maps
PBS NewsHour – WATCH: Trump criticizes Indiana Senate Republicans’ rejection of redistricting effort
Heritage Foundation / Heritage Action on X – “Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop.”

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause IN, All IN for Democracy, League of Women Voters IN

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, 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

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Indiana #TrumpGerrymandering #INSenate #Gerrymandering 

The post Bullied Indiana Senators Not Only Defeat the State’s Trump-Demanded Congressional Gerrymandering Plan, The Vote Wasn’t Even Close appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 8, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court handed the State of Texas and the Trump administration a huge win December 4th, overruling a district court panel’s compelling racial gerrymandering findings.  The gerrymandered maps likely deliver five more GOP congressional seats in the 2026 midterms. 

The majority’s opinion leaned heavily on their Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP opinion, and the “too close to the election” Purcell decision to undermine the District Court’s decision.   The majority wrote, “The District Court failed to honor the presumption of legislative good faith by construing ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against the legislature,” UNQUOTE.  Invoking the Purcell principle, the majority further argued that the District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing confusion.

Justices Kagan, Jackson and Sotomayor condemned the use of Purcell when the Texas primary could be moved and the general election was 11 months away.  Their dissent pointed to the District Court’s due diligence, with 3,000 documents, nine days of testimony, and 160-page opinion, when the majority’s ruling was “based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record.”

Justice Kagan wrote: “Today’s order disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race.  Because this Court’s precedents and our Constitution demand better, I respectfully dissent.”

We have the opinion at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (Nov. 20) Trump-Requested Texas Congressional District Gerrymandering Blocked by Federal Court Panel 
American Democracy Minute – (Nov. 26) The Purcell Principle, Often Used in the SCOTUS Shadow Docket, Will Be Argued in the Texas Gerrymandering Decision.  What is it?
U.S. Supreme Court – GREG ABBOTT, ET AL. v. LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS, ET AL. ON APPLICATION FOR STAY (Includes Dissents)
SCOTUS Blog – Supreme Court allows Texas to use redistricting map challenged as racially discriminatory
NPR – Supreme Court lets Texas use gerrymandered map that could give GOP 5 more House seats

Groups Taking Action:

League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC),  NAACP, MALDEF

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, 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

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Texas #TexasGerrymandering #RacialGerrymandering #USSupremeCourt #SCOTUS

The post U.S. Supreme Court Majority Embraces Texas Redistricting, Ignores District Court Panel Racial Gerrymandering Findings appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Nov. 20, 2025

In June, President Donald Trump asked Texas to redistrict and deliver five additional congressional seats before the 2026 midterm, igniting a multi-state gerrymandering arms race.  Nov. 18th, a federal court ruling halted the new districts and said “substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”

In a 160-page opinion, a three-judge federal district court panel ruled 2-1 that the state legislature’s proposed 2025 congressional redistricting plan had the effect of diluting the votes of Black and Hispanic voters in multiple districts in Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth.  

Writing for the majority, Trump-appointed Judge Jeffrey Brown cited a problematic letter from the U.S. Department of Justice which pointed to so-called “coalition districts” of Black and Hispanic voters as being unconstitutional, based on a misreading of a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision.  Brown wrote that it appeared the State of Texas tailored its map to meet DOJ’s misguided demands.  

The majority found for the pro-voter group plaintiffs in all four of the cases before the court, issued a preliminary injunction on the 2025 map, and directed a return to the 2021 congressional map. 

The State of Texas immediately filed an emergency appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The 2026 Texas candidate filing deadline is December 8th.  

We have the decision at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources: 

Politico – Trump on Texas redistricting: ‘We are entitled to 5 more seats’
American Democracy Minute – (Sept) Texas Senate Republicans Approve Gerrymandered Congressional Map; California Democrats Pass Bill to Put Retaliatory Maps on the Ballot 
League of United Latin American Citizens (via Democracy Docket) – Complaint Alleging Racially Gerrymandered Districts in 2025 Maps (1 of 4 complaints from pro-voter groups)
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas – El Paso – MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
GRANTING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION 
Texas Tribune – Federal court blocks Texas from using new congressional gerrymander in 2026 midterms

Groups Taking Action:

LULAC, MALDEF, NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

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

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, 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

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RacialGerrymandering #FairMaps #BlackVoters #LatinoVoters #Texas #2026Midterms

The post Trump-Requested Texas Congressional District Gerrymandering Blocked by Federal Court Panel appeared first on American Democracy Minute.