The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for June 3, 2025

We recently reported on county supervisors in Shasta County, CA still clinging to debunked 2020 election fraud claims by President Trump and his allies.  May 29th, a Colorado man was sentenced to three years in prison for threats he made to top Colorado and Arizona election officials, fueled by those same claims.  

Teak Ty Brockbank of Cortez, Colorado pleaded guilty in Federal District Court last fall for threatening to QUOTE “hang by the neck” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and former Arizona Secretary of State and now Governor, Katie Hobbs.  He also threatened a judge presiding in a separate DUI case, and threatened to shoot federal agents if they stepped on his property.

Brockbank asked for leniency during the sentencing, blaming consumption of alcohol and online conspiracy theories for his actions, according to the Associated Press.

The Brennan Center for Justice found in a 2024 survey that 38% of election officials have been subjected to threats.  A Princeton University Bridging Divides tracker found 90 threats to election workers last year alone.  

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice division which prosecuted Brockbank, the Public Integrity Division, has been largely dismantled under Trump’s “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government” executive order.   The division has been reduced from 30 lawyers to only 5, under Attorney General Pam Bondi.  

We have DOJ’s details of the case at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Department of Justice – (2024) Cortez Man Pleads Guilty To Making Threats Against Election Official
Colorado Public Radio – Colorado man who threatened election officials asked for leniency in sentencing, got 3 years 
Brennan Center for Justice – Poll of Election Officials Finds Concerns About Safety, Political Interference
Princeton University Bridging Divides Initiative – Threat and Harassment Incidents Targeting Local Officials Surge During 2024 Election
Federal Register – Executive Order:  Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government
NBC News – Justice Department office that prosecutes public corruption slashed in size, sources say  

Groups Taking Action:

Protect Democracy, Issue One, Center for American Progress

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

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #ProtectElections #ProtectPollWorkers 

The post CO Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Threats Against Top CO and AZ Election Officials, Judge and Law Enforcement appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 9, 2023

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.

Three bills signed by Oregon’s governor August 4th expand Automatic Voter Registration, protect voters who move within the state from losing eligibility, and allow the state to seek federal funding for dropbox security.

Voting Rights Lab reports that Gov. Tina Kotek signed HB 2107, making the Oregon Health Authority one of the state’s automatic voter registration locations.  Residents enrolling in the state’s Medicaid programs will also automatically be registered to vote, unless they opt out.  Another provision allows citizens registering to vote online to submit an electronic signature.

Governor Kotek also signed SB 166, which protects the eligibility of voters who move within the state.  You’ll recall our report last week about Georgia’s purge of registered voters, tens of thousands of whom had only moved within the state and were still eligible, but were disenfranchised in the 2020 and 2022 elections.  SB 166 also allows voters who are out of state when ballots are mailed to request ballots earlier.

Since 2000, Oregon votes primarily by mail.   But the hyperfocus on dropbox security since 2020 led to the signing of SB 1094, authorizing the state to seek federal funding for live streaming video of dropboxes, as well as in ballot counting facilities.  

We have links to the new laws, the history of Oregon’s successful vote by mail system, and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Voting Rights Lab’s “The Markup” – August 7, 2023
Oregon Legislature – Final version of HB 2107
Oregon Legislature – Final version of SB 166
Oregon Legislature – Final version of HB 1094
Bolts – Oregon Wants to Register Medicaid Recipients to Vote. Will Biden Officials Allow It?
Democracy Docket – Former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown:  Oregon’s Universal Mail-In Voting Transformed Civic Participation. Here’s How
Oregon Secretary of State – Voting in Oregon

Groups Taking Action:
Vote at Home Institute,  Next Up Oregon, Coalition of Communities of Color, Disability Rights Oregon,

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE! 
Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!
#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VoteatHome #OregonPolitics #VotingRights #FreedomtoVote

The post Oregon Expands Automatic Voter Registration, Protects Voters Who Move In-State From Losing Eligibility, and Seeks Funding for Dropbox Security 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.

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

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 14, 2023

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Oregon Capital Chronicle – Wyden, Blumenauer try again to export Oregon mail voting, automatic registration to rest of US
Sen. Ron Wyden – Vote at Home Act
Sen. Amy Klobuchar – Sustaining Our Democracy Act HR 7992 (2022 version)  (2023 Sustaining Our Democracy Act SB 630, language not yet posted)
National Association of Counties:  (2022 V)   LEGISLATIVE ANALYSIS FOR COUNTIES: SUSTAINING OUR DEMOCRACY ACT
Associated Press – (2021) After voters embraced mail ballots, GOP states tighten rules

Groups Taking Action:

National Vote at Home Institute, League of Women Voters US, ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Common Cause

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.

Two pieces of federal legislation introduced last week would expand mail-in voting around the country. One of those bills would also help recruit and train poll workers, and provide financial support for administering elections.

Last week, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer, both from universal vote-by-mail state Oregon, introduced the Vote at Home Act.   Oregon has conducted every election by mail since 2000.  The legislation automatically registers citizens to vote when they obtain or renew driver’s licenses, makes mail-in options available to all voters, and requires pre-paid envelopes to return ballots. 

Voting by mail reached 50% during the pandemic-impacted 2020 election, up from 25% in 2018.  In last fall’s midterms, despite a massive disinformation campaign to discredit it, mail-in voting was still 35% of the ballots cast, an indicator that voters liked the convenience of “kitchen table” voting.  

Reintroduced by U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar last week was the Sustaining Our Democracy Act, which would increase access to mail-in voting AND early voting.  It also provides funding for recruiting, training and protecting poll workers,  modernizing election equipment, and improving cyber security.  AND it increases funding to cities and counties to administer elections. 

Disinformation in Congress persists, making passage of the bills uncertain.   

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

The post <strong>Two Bills Introduced in Congress Would Expand Mail-In Voting in States,  Fund Election Administration</strong> appeared first on American Democracy Minute.