The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Nov. 27, 2025

For Thanksgiving, we’re rebroadcasting a story from 2024.  Sadly, nothing has changed in this story, and the proposed solutions remain in limbo.

The ink wasn’t yet dry on the Indian Citizens Act of 1924 when voter suppression of Native Americans began.  Natives have been fighting for their right to register and vote, proper representation, and fair voting districts ever since.

The Brennan Center for Justice writes that for decades, Arizona disenfranchised Native citizens because they were, QUOTE, “Persons under guardianship.”  New Mexico’s constitution stipulated that people who didn’t pay taxes, including Natives on reservations, could not vote.  

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited these suppression tactics.  But the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby decision opened a floodgate of new Native suppression in Arizona, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nevada and other states.

Recently, proof of citizenship and voter ID laws have targeted Natives, some of whom don’t have an ID, or live in remote areas without street numbers.  Counties have used “at-large” voting districts to dilute Native voting power, or removed drop boxes or polling places, forcing voters to drive sometimes more than a hundred miles to vote.  

What can be done?  The federal Native American Voting Rights Act is stuck in Congress, but New Mexico passed its own version in 2023.  The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act restores protections stripped from the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act would expand voting access for ALL Americans.  

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

Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Native American Rights Fund – (2020) Obstacles at Every Turn

Alaska Beacon – The importance of the Voting Rights Act for Indian Country
Brennan Center for Justice – How Voter Suppression Laws Target Native Americans
NPR – Sometimes overlooked by campaigns, Native voters could decide major elections in 2024
Split Ticket – The Largest Native American Voting Blocs
Intermountain Histories – Trujillo v. Garley: The Struggle for Native American Voting Rights
The White House – (2022) REPORT OF THE INTERAGENCY STEERING GROUP ON NATIVE AMERICAN VOTING RIGHTS
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren – Native American Voting Rights Act
U.S. Congress – John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

Groups Taking Action:
Native American Rights Fund, Native Vote, National Congress of American Indians, Declaration for American Democracy

Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook 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
#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #NativeVote #VoterSuppression #JohnLewisAct #FreedomtoVoteAct #NativeAmerican #Thanksgiving

The post The Supreme Court’s Attack on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 Affects Native American Voters, Too.  Proposed Legislation Could Fix It. appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Nov. 7, 2025

Maine voters soundly defeated Question 1 November 4th, which would have made the state’s voter ID rules the most restrictive in the country, and tightened rules for voting by mail. It was pitched as an “election integrity” measure, despite almost non-existent voter fraud in Maine.

Had it passed, Question 1 would have narrowed Maine’s voter ID options, eliminating student IDs, tribal IDs and other currently acceptable documents, despite no evidence of abuse.  It would have also restricted how the state, which has the oldest median age in the country, voted by mail.  

About half of Maine’s voters used a mail-in ballot in 2024, and over 16,000 subscribe to an ongoing absentee voter list.  Question 1 would have eliminated the absentee list, and prohibited requesting an absentee application by phone.  It would also have prohibited third parties from delivering absentee ballot applications, including family members, and limited drop box locations to one per town. 

October polling showed 48% support, 49% opposing  and 3% undecided.  In the end, it wasn’t close, with only 36.3% voting yes, and 63.7% no.  

Governor Janet Mills said in a statement, “Maine has long had one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the nation, in good part due to safe absentee voting — and Maine people tonight have said they want to keep it that way.”

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (Sept) Restrictions for Mail-In Voting and Voter ID on the Ballot in Maine Nov. 4th Even Though Voter Fraud in Maine is Almost Nonexistent
Maine Secretary of State – Maine Citizen’s Guide to the Referendum Election
Maine Morning Star – Question 1 Changes to Maine election laws
League of Women Voters ME – Voter Suppression Referendum
Maine Morning Star – Mainers reject voter ID proposal, maintaining state voting laws
WGME – High voter turnout attributed to hot local races and key referendum questions

Groups Taking Action:

No on 1, Save Maine Absentee Voting, League of Women Voters ME, AFL-CIO, Disability Rights ME

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 #Maine #Question1 #VoterSuppression

The post Maine Voters Defeat Initiative to Further Limit Voter ID Options and Restrict Voting by Mail appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 9, 2025

Democracy advocates fear that the recent Louisiana case heard in the U.S. Supreme Court could further erode the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  The Colorado Senate just passes a state VRA to ensure that all of its citizens have access to registration and voting. 

The Colorado Senate advanced SB 1 March 28th, prohibiting voter suppression for any group based on race, color, or language, and keeps voting jurisdictions from diluting voting power of concentrations of minority citizens through redistricting or other means.  

The act strengthens voter registration protections for Native American voters, and makes sure polling places, election notices and ballots are accessible to disabled voters.  

It specifically allows alternatives to in-person voting for primaries, and provides for multilingual ballots and election materials for communities with concentrations of minority language speakers.  It also expands notices of elections at government offices beyond just election offices, and prohibits barriers to voting for eligible incarcerated citizens.

Alabama, Arizona, and Maryland are also considering state VRAs in 2025.  If Colorado passes SB 1, it would join California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Virginia and Washington which recently passed VRA statutes

The bill now goes to the Colorado House.   

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Colorado Senate – SB25-001 Colorado Voting Rights Act
Colorado Newsline – Colorado Senate gives preliminary approval to Voting Rights Act, which mirrors federal law
National Conference of State Legislatures – State Voting Rights Acts
National Conference of State Legislatures – Legislatures Pursue State-Level Voting Rights Acts
Campaign Legal Center – Protecting the Freedom to Vote Through State Voting Rights Acts 

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU CO, League of Women Voters CO, Common Cause CO, New Era Colorado Action Fund

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – 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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Colorado #VotingRightsAct #SB1 

The post Colorado Senate Advances State Voting Rights Act, As Federal VRA is Under Threat by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Conservative Majority appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for March 27, 2025

Brian is so sick with a cold today that he can barely talk! This story from January is a good follow up to our March 24 story on Monday’s oral arguments for Louisiana v. Callais held in the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s a reminder that Voting Rights Act Section 2 claims not only come from Black Americans, discriminated against by majority-White governments since the country’s founding, but Native Americans and Hispanics as well – also routinely suppressed by drawing of unfair voting districts, and the manipulation of voting rules.

Click on the graphic below for script and links.

The post Rebroadcast: ND Native American Nation Prevails in Protecting Majority-Minority Voting Districts.  A Victory for Minority Voters, But GOP Efforts to Neutralize the VRA Continue appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 22, 2025

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

We recently reported on presidential orders, including executive orders, and how they’re used.  Executive orders can also be used to revoke previous orders, and among President Donald Trump’s day-one orders was removing a policy of the federal government to promote access to voting.

Trump’s executive order, entitled “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions,” terminated 78 of President Joe Biden’s orders, including Order 14019 from March 7, 2021, setting a policy for the federal government to promote access to voting.

Biden’s order, as noted on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website, QUOTE “Directed all federal agencies to ‘consider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process.”   This included ensuring equal access for voters with disabilities and non English-speaking Americans.  It ensured voting opportunities for active duty military and overseas citizens, and established a federal ballot tracking system to assist those voters.   

It created a federal working group to protect voting access for Native American voters, and it allowed time off for federal employees to vote and to serve as poll workers.   Importantly, it supported modernization of the Vote.gov website.   Although not included in day-one orders, Trump has also pledged to limit voting to election day only.  

We have more on Trump’s day-one executive orders at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
The White House – INITIAL RESCISSIONS OF HARMFUL EXECUTIVE ORDERS AND ACTIONS, Jan. 20, 2025
Federal Register – (2021)  Executive Order 14019 of March 7, 2021

NPR – (2024) Republicans are turning Biden’s voter registration order into a partisan flash point

VOX – The Trump executive orders that threaten democracy
Washington Post – (Paywall likely) Here are the executive actions and orders Trump signed on Day 1

Groups Taking Action:

Native American Rights Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, League of Women Voters US

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – 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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ExecutiveOrders #VoterRegistration #NativeVote

The post Executive Orders Can Also Terminate Previous Orders; One of Trump’s Day-1 Orders Ended a Federal Policy to Promote Voting appeared first on American Democracy Minute.