The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 30, 2023

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
FiveThirtyEight.com – Has Your State Made It Harder To Vote?
Heritage Foundation – Three Cases of Voter Fraud Since 2002

Arkansas Legislature – HB 1411 – Banning the “Pre-emptive” Sending of Absentee Ballots
Arkansas Legislature –  HB 258 – Eliminating Drop Boxes
Arkansas Legislature –  SB 250 – Limiting Ballot Counting to 24 hours, et. al.
Arkansas Legislature – HB 1715 (2021)  Absentee Ballot Restrictions
Arkansas Times – Did Arkansas’s new voting restrictions affect turnout?

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU of Arkansas, League of Women Voters Arkansas, Get Loud Arkansas, ForARPeople, Arkansas United, Indivisible Little Rock & Central Arkansas

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.

If you live in Arkansas, three bills just signed by the Governor just made voting more complicated for the state’s vulnerable citizens who use absentee ballots – and the election workers who count those ballots.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed HB 1411 this week, prohibiting the “proactive” sending of absentee ballots by election officials, criminalizing it as a misdemeanor.  Some pro-voter states allow permanent vote-by-mail lists, aiding disabled and elderly voters.  

If you receive your absentee ballot, you’ll no longer have access to drop boxes to return it.  Where some states restricted them only to secure locations, Arkansas has banned them altogether with SB 258, joining South Dakota’s similar ban, signed this month.  

It’s true that processing mail-in ballots take longer than in-person ballots, which is why since the height of the pandemic, many states allowed mail ballots to be preprocessed before election day.  Arkansas?  SB 250 mandates that the count be completed, QUOTE, “within twenty-four hours of the close of the polls, and with no significant breaks in the counting process.” 

This is on top of 2021’s HB 1715, which added extra absentee verification requirements and made the returning of four or more absentee ballots an act of voter fraud.  

The conservative Heritage Foundation counts only three cases of voter fraud since 2002.

We have links to Arkansas’ new laws, and the groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews

The post <strong>Arkansas Governor Signs More Absentee Ballot Restrictions, Including the Banning of Drop Boxes</strong> appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

Listen! https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/americandemocracyminute/episodes/2022-06-21T08_29_56-07_00

Today’s Links:
Articles: 
ProPublica – “Big Lie” Vigilantism Is on the Rise. Big Tech Is Failing to Respond
Pew Charitable Trust – “Voters with Disabilities Face New Ballot Restrictions Ahead of Midterms”
CBS News –  “What is ballot harvesting, where is it allowed and should you hand your ballot to a stranger?”

Groups Taking Action:    Common Cause, Public Citizen, Declaration for American Democracy

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

Unicorn, meet the Ballot Mule. This mythical creature only appears when you’ve lost an election, or if you want to tighten voting restrictions to make it harder for the disabled, the elderly and working parents to vote.

An investigation by ProPublica tracks the term “Ballot Mule” to 2020 election denier allegations of widespread ballot delivery schemes by third-party voter advocacy organizations. The conspiracy theory, amplified by former President Trump, alleges groups and individuals “harvested” ballots from people who might not otherwise vote and dropped multiple ballots off in drop boxes.

ProPublica reports that “Wanted” posters with the images of alleged fraudsters went viral on social media platforms, resulting in online threats. In Arizona, there was a call for vigilantes to find and prosecute alleged Ballot Mules. But Propublica found no evidence of wrongdoing by the individuals pictured, and around the county, election officials found no such activity. ProPublica also found no evidence that the social media platforms did anything to stop the lies from spreading.

Disinformation campaigns like the Ballot Mule conspiracy theory contributed to dozens of states tightening restrictions for voting by mail, delivering ballots to drop boxes, restricting or eliminating drop boxes, and increasing required documentation for voting absentee. All making it harder to vote, and based on a myth.

ProPublica’s article and an article on the impact of voting restrictions on the disability community by the Pew Charitable Trusts are linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post American Democracy Minute for June 22, 2022: Unicorn, Meet the Ballot Mule appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

Listen: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/americandemocracyminute/episodes/2022-06-01T08_05_40-07_00

Today’s Links:
Articles on Rhode Island’s No Excuse bill:  Narragansett Times, Providence Journal
Articles on Arizona Big Lie bills:    Poll of AZ voters on mail-in voting,  AP story on HB 2617
Groups taking action:   Let Rhode Island Vote, League of Women Voters RI, League of Women Voters AZ, One Arizona, Arizona Wins

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

It’s good news Thursday, with a pending freedom to vote reform in Rhode Island, and the defeat of two Big Lie bills in Arizona. 

Rhode Island’s legislature passed a “no-excuse” mail-in voting law which now goes to the Governor.   Up to now, Rhode Island has allowed absentee ballots to be cast by mail, but required a reason of disability, absence from town on the day of the vote, confinement to a nursing facility, or military service as an excuse.  If signed, the Let Rhode Island Vote Act would eliminate the need for an excuse in order to receive a mail ballot. 

In Arizona, where several Big Lie bills have been attempted this term, Governor Doug Ducey vetoed one of the most egregious on May 27th.  The Associated Press reports that HB 2617 expanded the reasons that would require a voter to be purged from the voter rolls, and would have required county recorders to launch an investigation anytime someone claims a person’s voter registration is invalid.   

Another Big Lie bill failed in the state senate.  HB 2238  would have set extreme restrictions on the use of mail ballot drop boxes, by adding costly video surveillance, moving boxes indoors, and prohibiting dropping off ballots from a car.  Such restrictions would particularly affect tribal areas.   There has been next to no abuse of mail-in ballots, and a March 2022 poll shows that three-quarters of Arizonans support mail-in voting.  

There’s more information on the legislation affecting Rhode Island and Arizona voters at AmericanDemocracy Minute.org.

Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we have, it’s something we DO.” 

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post American Democracy Minute for June 2, 2022: RI No-Excuse Absentee Bill Pending; Two Big Lie Bills Defeated in AZ appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/americandemocracyminute/episodes/2022-05-04T09_29_08-07_00

Today’s links for more information and action:
Georgia:   Voting rights group All Voting is Local
Florida:  League of Women Voters Florida
Arizona:  ACLU Arizona

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

We have freedom to vote updates from Arizona, Georgia and Florida today.  

First an update on Georgia voter suppression bill SB 441, which authorizes the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to pursue allegations of election misconduct, rather than election officials.  Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill, despite concerns from voting rights groups that such actions are intimidating to black and brown communities who have a shaky relationship with law enforcement already.  

Florida’s SB 524, signed last week by Governor Ron Desantis, also deploys an election police force, but other provisions of SB 524 are on hold, pending a federal court case filed by the League of Women Voters Florida.   The Florida Secretary of State said that changes to the use of drop boxes for mail-in ballots, and penalties third-party voter registration groups if they make mistakes,await the federal court’s decision, and will not be enforced in the meantime.

Arizona’s HB 2338 advanced out of a Senate rules committee last week, which implements more rules on the use of drop boxes, mandating 24 hour video surveillance for drop boxes not inside a government building.  The expense of these drop box restrictions around the US most often disproportionately affects majority minority communities where fewer drop boxes create transportation challenges for voters, and Native American voters, where distance and the lack of postal services make it more difficult to deliver ballots.

Links to organizations in Florida, Georgia and Arizona where you can take action are on our website, AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.

Granny D said, “Democracy is not  something we have, it’s something we DO.” 

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

The post American Democracy Minute for May 5, 2022: Freedom to Vote Updates for FL, AZ & GA appeared first on American Democracy Minute.