The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 29, 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 Delaware Superior Court judge struck down two early voting laws Feb. 23rd affecting tens of thousands of voters who were approved for a permanent absentee ballot list, and those who choose to vote early in-person. 

Democracy Docket reports that the lawsuit was brought by a state GOP chair and the conservative Public Interest Legal Foundation in 2022.  They argue that Delaware’s constitution allows only one day of voting, not the 10 days of early voting passed in 2019 and implemented in 2022.  Over 55,000 people voted early in the last midterm election – 7% of ballots cast.

In his opinion, Judge Mark Connor wrote, “Our Constitution provides only one such day, not any day or series of days the General Assembly sees fit.”

The GOP plaintiffs also contested a permanent absentee ballot request list passed in 2010, for which voters can qualify if disabled, a state employee, active military, or a caregiver.   The permanent absentee list was passed with a bipartisan vote, and now has more than 20,000 signed up.   

Judge Connor noted that this law, too, ran afoul of the state constitution, because it added a voter to a permanent list without verifying future eligibility.

While the state attorney general says she will appeal, Delawareans needing to vote by absentee should prepare to reapply for upcoming elections.

For details, visit AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Delaware Public Media – (2022) Early voting wraps up in Delaware with one county outpacing the rest
Delaware Superior Court Decision –  OPINION AND ORDER 

Democracy Docket – Delaware Court Strikes Down Permanent Absentee and Early Voting Laws
WHYY – Delaware attorney general vows to fight court ruling that halts early voting and permanent absentee voting
Delaware Election Commission – Absentee Ballot Application (Pre-Decision)

Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause Delaware, Delaware Voting Rights Coalition

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #EarlyVoting #AbsenteeVoting #VotingRights  #LetUsVote

The post Delaware Court Strikes Down Permanent Absentee Voter List and Early Voting Laws as Unconstitutional, Affecting Tens of Thousands for 2024 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Nov. 2, 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.

We’re back in Wisconsin where three democracy lawsuits may have an impact on the state’s election administration, access to absentee ballots, and gerrymandered voting districts. 

A Dane County court ruled Oct. 27th that a vote by the Wisconsin State Senate to remove the director of the Wisconsin Elections Commission had QUOTE “no effect.”  A previous ruling by the state supreme court allows state officials to remain in place if there is no successor.  Meagan Wolfe has been scapegoated of 2020 election deniers for implementing pandemic absentee voting accommodations for nursing home patients.  Wolfe remains in her position.  

Another suit involving the Wisconsin Elections Commission will be heard Nov. 10th, challenging use of the state’s online voter portal to request absentee ballots. The conspiracy theory group pushing the suit argues that state law requires absentee applications to be submitted DIRECTLY to local election officials.  The state’s portal receives the application first, then notifies local election officials who download and review it. 

Then November 21st, the first of two cases claiming the state’s heavily gerrymandered voting districts violate the state constitution will be heard in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The April election of Justice Janet Protasiewicz shifted power on the court, which could lead to the drawing of fairer maps and  possibly impact the balance of the U.S. House of Representatives.

We have more on all the cases at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Wisconsin Examiner – Embracing election denial, Wisconsin Senate Republicans vote to fire chief election official
Wisconsin Examiner – Temporary injunction blocks lawmakers from trying to replace elections administrator
Associated Press/PBS Wisconsin – Dane County judge blocks legislators from removing Wolfe during lawsuit
Democracy Docket – Wisconsin Online Absentee Ballot Application Challenge
Democracy Docket – Wisconsin Legislative Redistricting Challenge
Princeton Gerrymandering Project/Represent.Us/Electoral Innovation Lab:   Wisconsin 2022 Congressional Maps – Grade = F

Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause Wisconsin, League of Women Voters WI, Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, Wisconsin Disability Vote Coalition

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #Wisconsin #WisconsinPolitics #EndGerrymandering #FreedomtoVote

The post Three Democracy Court Cases in Wisconsin May Impact Election Administration, Gerrymandering and Absentee Ballots appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Aug. 29, 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.

An unusual New Mexico redistricting case reaches a state district court next month.  Unusual in that it’s Republicans claiming that Democrats did the partisan gerrymandering, but also that it will be one of the first cases to employ a partisan gerrymandering test suggested by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. 

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court majority ruled in Common Cause v. Rucho that partisan gerrymandering was a political matter and ceded authority to the states.   In her dissent, Justice Kagan recommended a three-part test to determine whether redistricting was in fact partisan gerrymandering.  

Kagan said courts should ask first whether the mapmakers intended to entrench their party’s power by diluting votes of the opposing party. Second, by analyzing past maps, asking whether they succeeded.  And third, comparing the contested map with maps using established fair criteria and asking mapmakers to defend their suspect maps. 

The New Mexico Supreme Court advised its lower court to employ this test to determine whether Democrats exceeded the “reasonable” amount of partisan gerrymandering as allowed in Article II, Section 18 of the state constitution when redistricting the state’s 2nd Congressional District.  If adopted by other courts, it could help curb partisan gerrymandering where state constitutions forbid it. The District Court trial begins September 27th. 

We have articles and court briefs on the case at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.   I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – New Mexico Congressional Redistricting Challenge
U.S. Supreme Court – Common Cause v. Rucho
NM Political Report – Gerrymandering case will move forward
Democracy Docket – New Mexico Supreme Court Rules That State Courts Can Review Partisan Gerrymandering Claims
NM Political Report – Watchdog groups file brief in congressional gerrymandering case
NM 5th Judicial Distict Court – Brief by Election Reformers Network, Common Cause New Mexico, and the League of Women Voters New Mexico
SEAN P. TRENDE  – Amicus brief by redistricting legal expert

Groups Taking Action:

Election Reformers Network, Common Cause New Mexico, and the League of Women Voters New Mexico

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE! 
Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org
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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FairMaps #StopGerrymandering

The post New Mexico Redistricting Case One of the First to Employ a Partisan Gerrymandering Test Proposed by U.S. Supreme Court’s Justice Kagan appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 29, 2023

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time) 

Today’s Links now below the script

 You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

We now have a decision in Moore v. Harper, the “Independent State Legislature” theory case which had pro-voter advocates concerned for the future of voting rights.  June 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that state courts DO have a say in election law, and that power doesn’t reside exclusively in state legislatures.

Democracy advocates breathed a sigh of relief.  The North Carolina legislature contested a 2021 decision by the state’s supreme court to throw out gerrymandered voting maps, claiming the fringe constitutional theory gave the legislature ultimate power over election law.  A newly elected state supreme court overturned the 2021 court’s decision, so some thought Moore v. Harper might get dismissed. 

Instead, Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett sided with the court’s liberals to take on the fringe theory.  They ruled the U.S. Constitution does grant state legislatures oversight of elections, but that state courts retain power under the Elections Clause to interpret state constitutionality of those laws. Roberts’ opinion included a role for federal courts to QUOTE, “ensure that state court interpretations of that law do not evade federal law.” 

While it protects a tool advocates use to defend fair maps and voting rights, the decision does NOT stop rogue legislatures from partisan gerrymandering, a Pandora’s box the court opened in 2019.

We have early analysis at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

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Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Supreme Court – Decision in Moore v. Harper “Independent State Legislature Theory” Case

Democracy Docket – Breaking Down the Supreme Court’s Opinion Rejecting a Fringe, Undemocratic Theory

SCOTUS Blog –  Supreme Court rules against North Carolina Republicans over election law theory

Common Cause – Post-Decision Press statement

Politico – Supreme Court crushes plan to scramble partisan map-making

Associated Press – Supreme Court rejects GOP in North Carolina case that could have reshaped elections beyond the state

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause NC,  NC League of Conservation Voters , Campaign Legal Center, Brennan Center for Justice

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Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #MoorevHarper #VotingRights #FairMaps

The post U.S. Supreme Court Tamps Down the Fringe “Independent State Legislature” Theory in an Important Decision for Democracy appeared first on American Democracy Minute.