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

In a recent report, we told you that 96% of New York City voters found ranked choice voting easy to use and liked that it gave voters more options.  So why have 17 states banned ranked choice voting, including five just this year?

Pro-voter groups tout RCV because it allows voters to choose a favorite candidate without being a spoiler, can reduce negative ads and rhetoric, and eliminates expensive runoff elections.   

Alaska implemented ranked choice and open primaries in 2022’s Congressional race.  But after upstart Democrat Mary Peltola defeated former Republican governor Sarah Palin, RCV was blamed.  A resolution by the Republican National Committee opposing RCV nationally followed, and Alaska voters had to beat back a repeal initiative in 2024.

While used in Maine, Alaska, DC and 47 municipalities nationwide, 17 red states have now banned it.  Party leadership and the RNC resolution argue that RCV is hard to understand and suppresses turnout. But where it’s been implemented, voter satisfaction is often over 80%. In the New York City primary, 9 of 10 voters said they understood it, and turnout was the highest in decades.

Organizers have more work to do. Voters defeated pro-RCV ballot measures in five states last year. 

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

The Hill – Republicans rage against ranked choice voting after Alaska election
Republican Nation Committee – RESOLUTION TO OFFICIALLY OPPOSE RANKED CHOICE VOTING ACROSS
THE COUNTRY
Alaska Beacon – Defeat of Alaska voting system repeal, Wasilla area House outcome are unchanged after recount
American Constitution Society – Ranked Choice Voting: Lessons in Democracy Reform from New York
National Conference of State Legislatures – This Year’s Election Bills Focus On Citizenship, Ranked Choice Voting 
American Democracy Minute – Ranked Choice Voting Gets High Marks in NYC Primary, with 96% Finding it Easy to Use and 82% Ranking at Least 2 Candidates
Fair Vote – New surveys: Voters love ranked choice voting
MIT Election Data & Science Lab – (2021) The Effect of Ranked-Choice Voting in Maine  

Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center – How Ranked Choice Voting Works
Groups Taking Action:

FairVote, Represent.Us, Common Cause

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

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#News #Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RankedChoiceVoting #RCV #Alaska #Maine #RCVBans

The post Voters Find Ranked Choice Voting Gives Them More Options, Eliminates Runoffs and is Easy to Use.  So Why Have 17 States Banned It? appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Oct. 30, 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.

We have important updates for three consequential voting rights cases we’ve been following in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia, just a week before the November 2024 election. 

October 28th, the Republican National Committee appealed a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision allowing voters whose mail ballot secrecy envelopes were missing or unsealed, to vote by provisional ballot instead. The RNC asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency ruling, claiming Pennsylvania’s high court overstepped the legislature’s authority over election law.  The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet responded.

The Nevada Independent reports that Oct. 28th, the state supreme court upheld a ruling that mail-in ballots without postmarks received within three days after election day must be counted.   Republicans appealed the decision, arguing the lower court misread the law.  The majority said the appeal was too close to the election, and wrote:  “If a voter properly and timely casts their vote by mailing their ballot before or on the day of the election, and through a post office omission the ballot is not postmarked, it would go against public policy to discount that properly cast vote.”  

The Georgia Supreme Court October 22nd denied a Republican appeal to restore a Georgia state election board rule allowing county election board members to make a “reasonable inquiry” and obstruct certifying the election. The rule will NOT be in effect November 5th.

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

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Pennsylvania Spotlight/AP – Republicans ask U.S. Supreme Court to block counting of some provisional ballots in Pa.
U.S. Supreme Court – Republican National Committee, et al., Applicants v. Faith Genser, et al.

ScotusBlog – Republicans ask Supreme Court to block decision to count Pennsylvania provisional ballots
Nevada Independent – Nevada Supreme Court rules non-postmarked ballots can be counted within 3 days of election
Georgia Recorder – Georgia Supreme Court delays ruling on controversial election board rules until after Nov. 5

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU PA,  PA Conference of the NAACP, Fair Fight Action, ACLU GA,  Common Cause GA, Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans

Check Your Voter Registration:

• U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
• Vote.Gov – Register to Vote in Your State
• Vote.Org – Check Your Registration to Vote
  
  

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotingRights #MailInBallots #Pennsylvania #Georgia #Nevada

The post Updates on Important Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia Voting Rights Decisions and Appeals Just Days Before the Election appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Sept. 5, 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.

In a last-ditch effort to purge voters in swing state North Carolina, the GOP has sued the state election board in state superior court to examine the eligibility of 225,000 voters – just days before early voting begins.

The Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party are questioning the eligibility of voters who, when filling out a state voter registration form, did not include their driver’s license and last four Social Security digits because the form didn’t mark the fields as required.  The form was corrected in December 2023.

The GOP is demanding that the state elections board contact all 225,000 affected voters, but the board has refused, arguing that the challenge came too late,  and North Carolina’s stringent absentee and in-person voter ID requirements will mitigate any chance of illegal voting.  September 3rd, the Democratic National Committee asked to intervene in the case.   The federal Help America Vote Act stipulates that any voter registration purges must occur 90 days before the election.

Similar suits were filed in Pennsylvania and Arizona earlier this summer attempting to find registration flaws, and to root out registered noncitizens.  Noncitizen voter registration does infrequently happen, but very rarely results in noncitizens actually voting.   

As of early September, polling shows the Presidential race virtually tied in North Carolina.

We’ve linked local reporting and the groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
NC Newsline – NC Republicans seek a voter purge that would violate federal law
National Republican Committee (via Democracy Docket) – Complaint in NRC vs. NC State Board of Elections
Washington Examiner – Battleground ballots: First 2024 ballots to go out in North Carolina with election lawsuits in limbo

The Carolina Journal – DNC seeks to intervene in GOP lawsuit challenging 225,000 voter registrations
Democratic National Committee (via Carolina Journal) –  MOTION TO INTERVENE BY THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Groups Taking Action:

Democracy North Carolina, Common Cause NC, Enlace Latino NC

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
  
  

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #NorthCarolina #VoterSuppression #VoterPurge

The post GOP Lawsuit Targets 225,000 Registered Voters in North Carolina Only Days Before Early Voting, and 11 Weeks Before the Election appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 12, 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.

While new messaging from the Republican National Committee and former President Donald Trump encourages turnout by early, absentee or mail-in voting,  GOP lawyers in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mississippi, and Oregon are simultaneously challenging the rules and legitimacy of mail-in voting. 

Following years claiming widespread mail-in voter fraud, Donald Trump implored his followers June 4th to “Swamp the Vote.”  QUOTE, “Whether you vote early, absentee, by mail, or in person, we must swamp the radical Democrats with massive turnout.

May 20th, a U.S. Supreme Court challenge by GOP candidates to Oregon’s statewide mail-in voting failed when the high court refused the case.  June 5th, appeals were heard after Delaware laws permitting a permanent absentee voter list and early voting were struck down in a case brought by the state GOP chair.  In Nevada, Pennsylvania and Mississippi, the GOP is challenging whether ballots with no postmark or date, or arriving after election day, can be counted. 

Drop boxes also continue to be an issue.  The Wisconsin Supreme Court appears poised to restore drop boxes, after a previous conservative court banned them.  But Wyoming’s secretary of state recently urged county election officials to stop using them, while citing no evidence of misuse. 

An attorney in Oregon’s case told the Oregon Capital Chronicle, “Vote by mail is an abomination, and we will fight it every possible way we can.”  Find more reporting linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
CNN – (2020)  Fact check: Trump lies about voter fraud while states, CDC encourage voting-by-mail as pandemic-friendly option
American Democracy Minute – The RNC Weaves a Tangled Web, Pushing Early & Mail-In Voting to Its Base, While Litigating and Legislating to Limit It In Swing States

American Democracy Minute – Never Mind . . . After Trump Shake-Up at RNC, “Bank Your Vote” Mail-In Voting Campaign Dropped, “Election Integrity” Unit Created Instead

RNC – RNC Introduces the “Swamp the Vote USA” Campaign
Donald Trump – Swamp the Vote Video
Washington Examiner – Trump does 180 on mail-in voting with plans to ‘swamp’ the vote
CNN – GOP leaders pursue new lawsuits over 2024 election rules – including attacking methods of voting they want supporters to use
Associated Press – A crush of lawsuits over voting in multiple states is creating a shadow war for the 2024 election
Oregon Capital Chronicle – U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear Oregon lawsuit that sought to end mail voting
Delaware Public Media – Delaware Supreme Court hears arguments on permanent absentee, early voting laws
Wyofile – Gray urges Wyoming to ditch ballot drop boxes; clerks say they’re safe, legal
NPR – Republicans say mail ballots arriving after Election Day in Nevada should be illegal
Democracy Docket – New Republican Lawsuit Challenges Mississippi’s Mail-in Ballot Receipt Deadline

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotebyMail #SwamptheVote #VoteatHome #OregonNews #WyomingNews #NevadaNews #DelawareNews #PennsylvaniaNews #MississippiNews

The post More Mixed Messages from Trump and the RNC on Mail-In Voting:  ‘Swamp the Vote” vs. Swamp the Courts appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for May 13, 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.

A New York state appeals court upheld a new state law allowing any state resident to vote by mail during the early voting period.  New York and national Republican committees, along with a NY Congresswoman, had sued to prevent unfettered access to mail-in ballots.

The New York Early Mail Voter Act was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul last September, and immediately challenged by no less than Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, the Republican National Committee, the New York Republican State committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Conservative Party of New York.   They and the other plaintiffs argued that the law is an unconstitutional end-run around the New York state constitution, which stipulates absentee voting is allowed only when the citizen is absent from the county, or due to an illness or a disability.

The Albany Times-Union reports that the State Supreme appellate court unanimously upheld a lower court’s ruling on May 9th, finding the law constitutional, and affirming the legislature’s power to enact it.  In the court’s opinion, QUOTE  “ . . . the NY Constitution contains no requirement – express or implied – mandating that voting occur in-person on election day.”  

Barring further appeal, the New York Early Mail Voter Act will be in place for the November 2024 general election. 

We have a link to the opinion, the text of the bill, and an Albany Law School analysis at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Gotham Gazette – (2023) Expansive Vote by Mail Bill Moved Through State Legislature as Session Ended
New York State Assembly – New York Early Mail Voter Act
Richad Rifkin, Albany Law School Government Law Center  –  (2023) The Constitutionality of the New York Early Mail Voter Act
Democracy Docket – New York Early Mail Voter Act Challenge
Times-Union – Stefanik case to overturn vote by mail rejected by appeals court

Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause NY,  Let NY Vote, Citizen Action NY, League of Women Voters NY

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #VotebyMail #VoteatHome #NYNews #NYPolitics

The post New York Appeals Court Protects the State Mail-in Voting Law, Dealing a Blow to NY Congresswoman & GOP Groups appeared first on American Democracy Minute.