The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Jan. 16, 2026

January 14th, a 9th Circuit federal court panel rejected a GOP claim that California’s new congressional districts were racially gerrymandered.  The court said the Proposition 50 maps, created as a counterpunch to gerrymandering in Texas, were manipulated for partisan, not racial reasons.

Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a suspension of California’s independent redistricting rules, with 65% of voters later concurring, passing Proposition 50 last November.  The legislature, using an outside consultant, manipulated the map to flip as many as five congressional districts to Democrats. 

Republicans argued racial data was unconstitutionally used to create the maps.

 In the 2 to 1 decision, the majority wrote:   “Because we find that the evidence of any racial motivation driving redistricting is exceptionally weak, while the evidence of partisan motivations is overwhelming, challengers are not entitled to preliminary relief on any of their claims.” UNQUOTE

In Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court also decided it was partisan, not racial gerrymandering, allowing the manipulated map to stand.  But it also invoked the Purcell principle, suggesting it was too close to the Texas primary anyway, and blocking the map would create confusion.   It’s likely the Proposition 50 case will also be appealed, and a politicized U.S. Supreme Court majority could use Purcell to block California’s five Democratic seats.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (Dec. 2025) U.S. Supreme Court Majority Embraces Texas Redistricting, Ignores District Court Panel Racial Gerrymandering Findings
CalMatters – Proposition 50 passed in California. Here’s what you missed
U.S. DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA (Via Democracy Docket) – Order in DAVID TANGIPA, et al.,  Plaintiffs, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. GAVIN NEWSOM, in his official capacity
as the Governor of California, et al.,

American Democracy Minute – (Nov. 2025) The Purcell Principle, Often Used in the SCOTUS Shadow Docket, Will Be Argued in the Texas Gerrymandering Decision.  What is it?

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause, FairVote, League of Women Voters

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 #California #Texas #TrumpGerrymandering #RacialGerrymandering #PartisanGerrymandering #FairMaps #Proposition50

The post Federal Panel Allows California’s Gerrymandered Counterpunch to Five More GOP Congressional Seats in Texas. Will a Politicized SCOTUS Block It?   appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Dec. 8, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court handed the State of Texas and the Trump administration a huge win December 4th, overruling a district court panel’s compelling racial gerrymandering findings.  The gerrymandered maps likely deliver five more GOP congressional seats in the 2026 midterms. 

The majority’s opinion leaned heavily on their Alexander v. South Carolina NAACP opinion, and the “too close to the election” Purcell decision to undermine the District Court’s decision.   The majority wrote, “The District Court failed to honor the presumption of legislative good faith by construing ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against the legislature,” UNQUOTE.  Invoking the Purcell principle, the majority further argued that the District Court improperly inserted itself into an active primary campaign, causing confusion.

Justices Kagan, Jackson and Sotomayor condemned the use of Purcell when the Texas primary could be moved and the general election was 11 months away.  Their dissent pointed to the District Court’s due diligence, with 3,000 documents, nine days of testimony, and 160-page opinion, when the majority’s ruling was “based on its perusal, over a holiday weekend, of a cold paper record.”

Justice Kagan wrote: “Today’s order disserves the millions of Texans whom the District Court found were assigned to their new districts based on their race.  Because this Court’s precedents and our Constitution demand better, I respectfully dissent.”

We have the opinion at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – (Nov. 20) Trump-Requested Texas Congressional District Gerrymandering Blocked by Federal Court Panel 
American Democracy Minute – (Nov. 26) The Purcell Principle, Often Used in the SCOTUS Shadow Docket, Will Be Argued in the Texas Gerrymandering Decision.  What is it?
U.S. Supreme Court – GREG ABBOTT, ET AL. v. LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS, ET AL. ON APPLICATION FOR STAY (Includes Dissents)
SCOTUS Blog – Supreme Court allows Texas to use redistricting map challenged as racially discriminatory
NPR – Supreme Court lets Texas use gerrymandered map that could give GOP 5 more House seats

Groups Taking Action:

League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC),  NAACP, MALDEF

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 #Texas #TexasGerrymandering #RacialGerrymandering #USSupremeCourt #SCOTUS

The post U.S. Supreme Court Majority Embraces Texas Redistricting, Ignores District Court Panel Racial Gerrymandering Findings appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Nov. 26, 2025

The Purcell Principle is supposed to keep last minute changes in election law from creating chaos before and during elections.  It’s also been unevenly applied in lower courts and the U.S. Supreme Court’s so-called ‘shadow docket’, and is being argued again in the current Texas racial gerrymandering case.

November 18th, a federal panel ruled the Texas legislature racially gerrymandered its 2025 congressional district map, and Texas immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s emergency docket.  Justice Samuel Alito granted a temporary stay, requesting responses from the parties by Nov. 24th.

Predictably, briefs supporting the State of Texas leaned heavily on Purcell v. Gonzales, the Arizona case which never defined “how close was too close” to the election. Since, some courts have ruled 90 days is too close, others six months.  

Texas candidates must file by December 6th for the 2026 elections, so the state and others argue the gerrymandered maps should stand.  

Pro-voter groups argue the racially gerrymandered maps are illegal, and Purcell doesn’t apply. They argue the election is a year away, and the federal court directed the 2021 maps be used.

In partisan hands, Purcell can be applied to swing an election, or in this case, to help retain control of the U.S. House.  Will the high court play shadow docket politics?  Expect an answer shortly.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – The Purcell Principle:  A SCOTUS Decision Intended to Avoid Voter Confusion May Now Be a Stealth Voter Suppression Tactic
American Democracy Minute – With Candidates Ready to File, SCOTUS Temporarily Blocks Ruling on Texas Racial Gerrymandering, Louisiana Gerrymandering Decision Still Pending
American Constitution Society – The Roberts Court, The Shadow Docket, and the Unraveling of Voting Rights Remedies
U.S. Supreme Court – Docket for Greg Abbott, et al., Applicants v. League of United Latin American Citizens, et al., including Monday, Nov. 24 Briefs
SCOTUSBlog – A Purcell Principle Explainer

Groups Taking Action:

LULAC, MALDEF, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

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!

#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #PurcellPrinciple #TexasRedistricting #USSupremeCourt #SCOTUS #RacialGerrymandering

The post The Purcell Principle, Often Used in the SCOTUS Shadow Docket, Will Be Argued in the Texas Gerrymandering Decision.  What is it? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 26, 2025

Today’s Script

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

In the coming weeks, Virginia GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin considers multiple pro-voter bills sent to his desk by a Democratic-majority legislature.  A state constitutional amendment also moves to the November ballot which restores voting rights to returning citizens after felony convictions.

Almost a dozen pro-voter bills have advanced in January and February, most recently protecting voters from premature purges.  Last August, Younkin ordered voter registration purges within 90 days of the election, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court just two weeks before the election.

In response, the Virginia legislature passed House bills 2002 and 2276, prohibiting the purging of a voter using unverified external data as justification, and establishing specific criteria for removal.   SB 813 specifically prohibits voter list purges within 90 days of the election.  

After blocking GOP attempts to shorten early voting in primaries from 45 days to 14 days, the legislature passed SB 760, extending deadlines for returning mail-in ballots to three days after election day and allowing curing of deficient ballots, and passed SB 991, giving more time to voters to register before election day.

In 2023, Governor Youngkin reversed policies of recent governors, and restores voting rights to citizens who’ve completed felony sentences only on a case-by-case basis.   House Resolution 2, now passed in both houses, would  automatically restore those rights, and will appear on the November 2025 ballot.  

Find links to the bills at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

American Democracy Minute – U.S. Supreme Court Allows Virginia to Purge of Alleged Non Citizen Voters Only Days Before the Election, Ignoring Established Federal Law. Eligible Voters Were on the List, Too.
Virginia Mercury – Senate moves to strengthen protections against voter roll purges
Virginia Mercury – Historic push for constitutional protections in Virginia gains momentum

Virginia Legislature – HB 2002, HB 2276, SB 813, SB 760, SB 991, HR 2

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU Virginia,  Virginia Election Protection, UpVote VA, 

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 #Virginia #RightsRestoration #VotingRights #DemocracyReform

The post VA Legislature Sends Several Pro-Voter Bills to Gov. Youngkin, and a Constitutional Amendment Restoring Returning Citizen Rights to Voters appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 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 Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused to rehear a challenge to mail-in ballots with missing or inaccurate dates on the merits, after dismissing the case on a technicality in September.  But it also denied a GOP challenge of counties which notified mail-in voters of a mistake, and allowed them to ‘cure’ their ballot.

Citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Purcell Principle” as justification, the court ruled Oct. 5th that these and most other voting-related cases were now too close to the election.  “This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election,” it said.

The missing date decision could affect tens of thousands of Pennsylvania voters who mistakenly don’t date, or misdate, their mail-in ballots.  Under the Commonwealth’s law those ballots are not counted.  The ACLU has also appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court using the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which forbids minor mistakes from disqualifying a voter, but it is unclear if, or when, the high court would consider the appeal.

In her dissent, Chief Justice Debra Todd wrote that the case would be an appropriate use of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s “King’s Bench” power, saying,  “Where, as here, the issue concerns the fundamental right to vote, and where the consequences of inaction risk undermining the electoral process, I deem it imperative to act now.”   

We have a link to the decisions at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Pennsylvania Supreme Court – (Missing Date Case) ORDER – PER CURIAM
Pennsylvania Supreme Court –  (Missing Date Case)  DISSENTING STATEMENT – CHIEF JUSTICE TODD
Pennsylvania Supreme Court – (Notification & Curing Case) ORDER – PER CURIAM

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU PA,  PA Conference of the NAACP, Common Cause PA, Black Political Empowerment Project,  League of Women Voters PA

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
  
  

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!

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

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #PASupremeCourt #MailBallots #PurcellPrinciple

The post PA Supreme Court Refuses to Rehear Mail-In Ballot Missing Date Appeal and Others As Too Close to the Election appeared first on American Democracy Minute.