The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 8, 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 choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, and former President Trump’s pick of Senator J.D. Vance raises a question for pro-democracy voters.  How do the VP candidates stand on democracy issues?

In his 2022 U.S. Senate primary, J.D. Vance embraced 2020 election fraud theories when he told the Youngstown, OH Vindicator, “There were certainly people voting illegally on a large-scale basis,” and repeated a conspiracy theory that Meta founder Mark Zuckerburg used election administration grants to manipulate the results.  He recently told the New York Times that the alternate slates of electors should have been debated in Congress.  Newsweek reported Vance HAS called for election day as a national holiday, widely supported by Americans, but as a tool to end mail-in voting. 

Earlier this year, Governor Tim Walz signed a bill including the Minnesota Voting Rights Act, restoring protections stripped from the federal 1965 VRA.  In 2023, he restored voting rights to 55,000 formerly incarcerated citizens and signed the Democracy for the People Act, establishing automatic voter registration, creating a standing mail-in voting list,pre-registering 16 and 17 year olds,  and requiring more disclosure of political advertising funders.  

Upon its signing, Walz said, “Democracy thrives when everyone’s voice is heard. Today, we’re ensuring a strong democracy by prioritizing accessibility and voter protections.”

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
American Democracy Minute – Minnesota Takes More Big Steps in Expanding and Protecting the Right to Vote, Including Passing the Minnesota Voting Rights Act

American Democracy Minute – Minnesota Governor Signs “Democracy for the People Act” Enhancing Voting Access and Protections
VoteBeat – Vice president candidates present stark contrast on voting issues
Democracy Docket – Trump VP Pick JD Vance Has a History of Election Denialism and Anti-Voting Policies
NOTUS – JD Vance Insists He Has Trump’s Confidence
Newsweek – (2022) What J.D. Vance Has Said on Voter Fraud as Ohio Sets Mail-In Ballot Record
The Vindicator – Vance talks voter fraud, conspiracy

New York Times – (Possible paywall) What J.D. Vance Believes

Check Your Voter Registration

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
• USA Vote Foundation – Registration, Eligibility, State Election Office Links
• Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
• Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #TimWalz #JDVance #DemocracyReform 

The post How Do VP Candidates Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. J.D. Vance Compare on Democracy Issues?   appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 23, 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.

May 17th, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an omnibus democracy reform bill which included the Minnesota Voting Rights Act, on the heels of 2023’s Democracy for the People Act and restoring voting rights to 55,000 of its formerly incarcerated citizens.

The new omnibus bill funds new election and cybersecurity equipment for municipalities, changes voter ID requirements for students, makes several election administration changes, but most importantly, establishes the Minnesota Voting Rights Act.  Minnesota joins New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, California, Illinois, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia in replacing protections stripped from the  federal 1965 Voting Rights Act by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Among the Minnesota VRA provisions are: Prohibiting voter discrimination on the basis of race, color or language, protecting voters from disinformation; giving private citizens the right to bring voting rights court actions; ending prison gerrymandering; expanding on-campus polling places for students; ensuring Native American citizens can register and vote unhindered, and helping the unhoused to register.

This follows 2023’s Democracy for the People Act, establishing automatic voter registration, creating a standing mail-in voting list, pre-registering 16 and 17 year olds, and requiring more disclosure of political advertising funders.

Governor Tim Walz said in a statement:   “Democracy thrives when everyone’s voice is heard. Today, we’re ensuring a strong democracy by prioritizing accessibility and voter protections, ” he said.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Minnesota Legislature – Final Text of HF4772 Elections Policy and Finance Bill
Office of Gov. Tim Walz – Statement on Passage of Minnesota Voting Rights Act
Common Cause – Elections Omnibus Passage Strengthens Voting Rights, But Work Still to Do
Democracy Docket – Minnesota Governor Signs Pro-Voting Package
Minnesota Reformer – (2023)  Walz signs Democracy for the People Act elections bill

Groups Taking Action:
Campaign Legal Center, Minnesota Alliance for Democracy, COPAL – Communidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina, Stand Up America 

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #MinnesotaNews #MinnesotaPolitics #VotingRightsAct #FreedomtoVote

The post Minnesota Takes More Big Steps in Expanding and Protecting the Right to Vote, Including Passing the Minnesota Voting Rights Act appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 19, 2023

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – (Some provisions noted in this article did not make the final version) Minnesota Lawmakers Introduce Omnibus Democracy for the People Act
KSTP – Minnesota House of Representatives passes the Democracy for the People Act
Common Dreams – Minnesota Dems Advance Bill to Ban Election Interference by Multinational Corporations
Minnesota Legislature – HF3/SF3 Democracy for the People Act
Colorado Public Radio – (2021) Colorado Added 250,000 Voters In The Past Year Through Automatic Voter Registration
Arizona PBS – After overwhelming voter OK, political ‘dark money’ law hailed as model

Groups Taking Action:

Free Speech for People, We Choose Us Minnesota, League of Women Voters MN, Common Cause MN, 

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.

Good news today.  April 13th, the Minnesota House approved the HF3 Democracy For All bill, which proposes reforms to voter registration, protects voters from intimidation, and requires disclosure of dark money donors influencing elections. 

The reform package now becomes SF3 in the Minnesota Senate, where it’s likely to be passed and sent to Governor Tim Walz, after the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party swept elections last fall.

SF3 would automatically register voters doing business at the Minnesota Departments of Safety and Human Services unless voters opt out.  A similar provision passed in Colorado in 2020 registered 250,000 new voters in one year.   The bill also allows pre-registration of 16 and 17-year-olds while they are still in school and first registering for a driver’s license.  

Other reforms allow voters to be added to a permanent vote-by-mail list,and prohibits voter intimidation and deceptive actions intended to interfere with voting.   It also aids non-English speakers with alternate language ballots or provides interpreters.  

Like Arizona’s recent constitutional amendment, it will require disclosure of donors to Dark Money nonprofits and LLCs spending money on state elections,   bans contributions from foreign donors.

Should the bill pass, the Democracy for All act will be one of the top reform bills of 2023.

We have links to the details, articles and groups taking action at  AmericanDemocracyMinute.org   For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews

The post Sweeping Democracy Reform Package Passes Minnesota House appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 29, 2023

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

BallotPedia – Arizona Proposition 211, Campaign Finance Sources Disclosure Initiative (2022)
Stop Dark Money AZ – Voters’ Right to Know Initiative
New York Assembly – S. 1101/A 776 LLC Disclosure Bill

Brennan Center for Justice – A Chance to Finally Close the LLC Loophole
Democracy Docket – Minnesota’s Democracy for the People Act Unpacked
Minnesota Legislature – HF3 Democracy for the People Act Status
National Conference of State Legislatures – State Campaign Contribution Limits

Groups Taking Action:
Stop Dark Money AZ,  Fair Elections NY, Common Cause NY,  People for the American Way, We Choose Us MN

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.

Our series this week on Dark Money showed how operatives use nonprofit organizations and Limited Liability Corporations to funnel anonymous cash into our elections. We know it’s bad, but what’s being done about it?

In November, Arizona voters passed the Voters’ Right to Know Act by a 72% vote. It requires groups or corporations spending money over a certain threshold in local or statewide elections to disclose donors over $5,000. As we’ve reported, Americans for Prosperity is challenging it in federal court, and other groups in state court.

In 2019, New York enacted a bill, which requires member shareholders of LLCs making political donations to disclose their names, and apply that amount to the individual’s campaign donation limits. But until 2023, it had not been enforced, and as we reported, those rules may have been ignored in the 2022 governor’s race.

Twenty-two states have banned any corporate contributions DIRECTLY to a candidate. But five states allow UNLIMITED contributions, and most remaining states still allow corporations to donate at the individual’s limit.

The Minnesota legislature is considering the Democracy for the People Act, a sweeping voting access and anti-corruption package, which includes disclosure measures similar to NY and Arizona. And the re-introduction of the federal Freedom to Vote Act is expected in the coming weeks. Exposing Dark Money can’t come soon enough.
We have articles and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews

The post <strong>Shedding Light on Dark Money:  How NY, AZ & MN are Fighting Back Against the Influence of Anonymous Campaign Cash</strong> appeared first on American Democracy Minute.