The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 21, 2026

We have mid-decade congressional redistricting updates today from California, Virginia, New Hampshire and Maryland.  The GOP appealed California’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

January 14th, a federal district panel allowed California’s voter-authorized Proposition 50 maps to be used.  Two days later, the California GOP appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the ruling.  The U.S. Supreme Court cited the Purcell principle as a factor in its Texas decision, saying changing maps would create confusion in the March 3rd midterm primary election.  California’s primary is June 2nd.  The high court has yet to accept the case.

In Virginia, Democrats in the General Assembly passed a constitutional amendment ballot question authorizing the legislature to conduct mid-decade congressional redistricting.  The Virginia Mercury reports that a referendum election date has not yet been set, but is expected this spring.  Democrats currently hold 6 of 11 congressional seats in the commonwealth.

HB 1300, a New Hampshire bill to redistrict the state’s two congressional districts, was effectively killed with the addition of an unrelated amendment.  Governor Kelly Ayotte has expressed opposition to midterm redistricting. 

Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore recently told the Associated Press he supports mid-decade redistricting, but Senate President Bill Ferguson vocally opposes it. 

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

National Conference of State Legislatures – Changing the Maps: Tracking Mid-Decade Redistricting
U.S. DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (via Election Law Blog) – PLAINTIFFS’ EX PARTE APPLICATION FOR AN INJUNCTION PENDING APPEAL
Virginia Mercury –  Virginia Senate Democrats advance mid-decade redistricting amendment 
AFT NH – HB 1300 was originally slated to be a mid-decade congressional redistricting bill but . . .
Associated Press – Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore pushes the case for redrawing the state’s congressional map 

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause US, League of Women Voters US, Bipartisan Policy 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 #Redistricting #Gerrymandering #MidDecadeRedistricting #TrumpGerrymandering #CongressionalDistricts #FairMaps 

The post Redistricting Updates: CA GOP Appeals Prop 50 Maps to SCOTUS, VA Dems Push Constitutional Amendment, NH’s Bill Doomed, MD Stalemated appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 9, 2026

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called an April special session of the legislature with the intent of redrawing the state’s congressional districts, further escalating the gerrymandering wars started last summer by President Donald Trump. An estimated three to five additional GOP seats are expected.

The special session begins April 20th after the regular session concludes, according to a statement by the governor’s office. The new map is likely to be immediately challenged as a violation of Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment, prohibiting racial and partisan gerrymandering, passed with 63% of the vote in 2010.

The 2022 process was anything but compliant. Governor DeSantis vetoed the legislature’s least-changed congressional map, and forced through an aggressively gerrymandered map splitting the 5th District into four parts and diluting the historically Black north Florida district. Despite the obvious violation of the state constitution, the Florida Supreme Court allowed the new map, saying the former District 5 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

A Florida House redistricting committee has already met to consider new maps, but it’s also possible DeSantis may again insert himself into the process. In 2022, he hired an outside firm which ProPublica reports was paid $450,000 for redistricting work. Florida’s statewide candidate registration window for the August 18th primary ends June 12th.

We have more on Florida’s redistricting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

BallotPedia – Florida Amendment 6, Congressional District Requirements Initiative (2010)
Florida Politics – (2022) Gov. DeSantis signals he won’t sign Legislature’s proposed congressional maps
ProPublica (2022) How Ron DeSantis Blew Up Black-Held Congressional Districts and May Have Broken Florida Law
American Democracy Minute – (2023) DeSantis Congressional Map Diluting Black Voting Power Heads to Florida Supreme Court After Being Upheld by Appeals Court
Bolts Magazine – Floridians Restricted Gerrymandering. Their Justices Are Retreating on Enforcing That.
Florida Phoenix – (2025) DeSantis says Florida ‘will be forced’ to redistrict because of pending U.S. Supreme Court decision
Florida Phoenix – Governor calls an April special session on redistricting 

Groups Taking Action:

Commom Cause FL, Southern Poverty Law Center, Equal Ground

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 #TrumpGerrymandering #MidDecadeRedistricting #RacialGerrymandering #PartisanGerrymandering #Florida #RonDeSantis #FairMaps

The post FL Governor Ron DeSantis Calls April Special Session to Gerrymander More GOP Congressional Districts, Escalating Redistricting Fight appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 29, 2025

Ohio has joined Kansas in eliminating a grace period for mail-in ballots arriving after election day.  A U.S. Supreme Court case from Mississippi could potentially eliminate mail ballot grace periods nationwide, disenfranchising tens of thousands. 

In March 2025, the GOP-dominated Kansas legislature repealed its 2017 three-day grace period law, and as of 2026, requires ballots to be received on or before election day.

With the erosion of U.S. Postal Service delivery standards, several states added grace periods to count late-arriving mail ballots.  But that was before President Donald Trump partially and baselessly blamed his 2020 loss on mail-in ballots, and in March 2025 issued an already court-challenged executive order requiring that all voting occur on election day.

On December 19th, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed SB 293, eliminating that state’s four-day grace period for absentee ballots.   About 8,000 ballots arrived after election day in 2024, according to Secretary of State testimony on the bill.  

DeWine said he QUOTE “reluctantly” signed the bill due to the pending U.S. Supreme Court case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, challenging Mississippi’s grace period law.   That case will be heard next year, and impacts as many as 14 other states with similar laws.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

The White House – PRESERVING AND PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS
Kansas Legislature – Senate Bill 4
Kansas Reflector – Kansas Legislature overrides governor’s veto of bill to limit advance voting
BOLTS Magazine – Trump Wants Mail Votes to Arrive By Election Day. Red States Are Rushing to Toe the Line. 
Ohio Capital Journal – Gov. DeWine weighing whether to eliminate Ohio’s absentee ballot grace period
Ohio Capital Journal – Ohio Gov. DeWine signs property tax bills, ‘reluctantly’ approves new voting restrictions

Brennan Center for Justice – (2024) Mail Voting Accuracy

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU Ohio,  National Vote at Home Institute,  Ohio Voice

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 #VotebyMail #MailBallotGracePeriod #Ohio #Kansas 

The post Ohio Joins Kansas in Eliminating Grace Periods for Mail-In Ballots; A 2026 Mississippi SCOTUS Case Could Eliminate Them Nationwide appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 12, 2025

Turnout of younger voters surged in the recent New York City mayoral race and the New Jersey and Virginia races for governor, according to a recent study by the Tufts University CIRCLE research center.

The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, or CIRCLE, conducted exit polling during the November 2025 election and found that in Virginia, 34% of younger voters aged 18 to 29 voted, up 7%, and a 29% turnout in New Jersey, up 9%.   In New York City, an estimated 28% of the age-group voted, compared with a 2013 average of the 30 largest U.S. cities at only 9%.  

Those younger November voters went overwhelmingly to Democratic candidates.  In New Jersey, gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill received 69% support from younger voters.  In Virginia, 70% voted for Abigail Spanberger for governor.  In New York City, 75% voted for Zohran Mamdani over former governor Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa.

In California, 80% of younger voters supported the Proposition 50 redistricting measure.

The surge comes during the passage in other states of strict domicile and voter ID rules targeting college students, under the guise of “election integrity.”  It’s not a coincidence.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

CIRCLE – Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement – Young Voters Power Mamdani Victory, Shape Key 2025 Elections
The Civics Center – These charts will change the way you think about youth voter turnout

State Court Report – (2024) The New Battle Over Youth Disenfranchisement
The Civics Center – Youth turnout in 2026 – Here’s what we already know about the youngest voters.Including a comparative view of the youngest voters in NH, VA, and MI.

Groups Taking Action:

VOTE.org, VoteRiders, RocktheVote.org

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 #YouthVote #YoungerVoters #YouthTurnout 

The post Younger Voters Showed Up and Made a Difference in 2025’s High Profile Elections, Says Recent Tufts University Study appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 2, 2025

We’re in Wisconsin today, where the state supreme court, after unwinding gerrymandering in state house and senate districts, has appointed lower court judicial panels to hear challenges to Wisconsin’s congressional districts. 

Pro-voter groups argue the congressional maps should be subject to the fairer criteria mandated for the state legislative districts, but in March 2024, the state supreme court refused to hear two challenges to the congressional districts, and a “least changed” map was used for the 2024 election.  

That position has changed. November 25th, citing a 2011 law signed by the architect of the state’s gerrymandering, former Governor Scott Walker, the Wisconsin Supreme Court established two, three-circuit court judge panels to consider each of the congressional redistricting challenges.  

How the six judges were selected has raised objections from Republican legislators and dissenting justices, according to reporting by the Wisconsin Examiner.   All six were nominated by Democratic Governor Tony Evers.  Justice Annette Ziegler wrote, “Hand picking circuit court judges to perform political maneuvering is unimaginable.”  But Ziegler herself had supported the legislature’s past gerrymandered maps. 

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and other pro-voter groups are proposing a citizen-led independent redistricting commission for the next redistricting cycle.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (2024) After Cleaning Up Gerrymandered State Senate & Assembly Districts, the Wisconsin Supreme Court Passes on Congressional Districts
American Democracy Minute – (April) Pro-Voter Groups Again Challenge ‘Least Change” Congressional Districts in Wisconsin Supreme Court, After Outcome of April’s $100M Court Race
Wisconsin Examiner – Wisconsin Supreme Court says 3-judge panels will decide redistricting cases
Wisconsin Politics – Wisconsin Supreme Court appoints panels to hear challenges to state’s congressional map

Groups Taking Action:

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition,  League of Women Voters WI

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 #FairMaps #Wisconsin #WISupremeCourt #Gerrymandering #FairRedistricting

The post Wisconsin Supreme Court Tasks Judicial Panels with Hearing Challenges to the State’s Congressional Districts appeared first on American Democracy Minute.